A merger boosted Point.360 while some good news, and some good earnings, helped Fremont and East West Bancorp, respectively. On the other hand, profit taking took a bite out of Grill Concepts while poor earnings and a gloomy outlook stunned Stamps.com and Hanmi Financial, respectively.
The week started off great for Burbank-based Point.360 when the digital media firm announced it had sold its spot advertising distribution business to Irving, Texas-based DG FastChannel Inc. Shares in Point.360 leapt 45 percent after the announcement, then kept stable for the remainder of the week. They closed at $5.32 Friday.
Embattled mortgage lender Fremont General Corp. continued its on-again, off-again relationship with Wall Street. The Santa Monica firm gained 16 percent for the week on news the company sold another $2.9 billion worth of its subprime loans (at a $100-million loss) marking the second deal (the first was for $4 billion) in less than a month. Investors took this as good news, as the lender still runs a profitable commercial lending arm and more than 20 retail banking offices in the state. Shares in Fremont closed the week out at $8.15, its highest closing price in nearly a month.
East West Bancorp shares also surged 13 percent for the week after the Pasadena-based bank company announced a 31 percent hike in profits, mainly due to increased fees and some real estate sales. Shares closed the week at $39.75 approaching the 52-week high of $41.20 it hit in July.
On the losing end was Grill Concepts Inc. Shares in the Los Angeles-based casual dining chain owner fell 19 percent mainly due to profit taking after hitting a 52-week high in early April. Shares in Grill Concepts closed the week at $7.33.
On the bad end of an earnings report was Stamps.com Inc. which reported an 8 percent drop in profits Thursday, which fell in line with analysts expectations but disappointed otherwise. Investors took a 13 percent bite out of shares after the Los Angeles-based on-line postage vendor lowered its 2007 forecasts leaving shares at $12.96 for the week.
Finally, Hanmi Financial Corp. saw its shares drop by 11 percent for the week (14 percent on Friday alone) after it warned Friday that loan losses would lead to lower first quarter earnings. Shares in the Los Angeles-based bank holding company hit a 52-week low of $15.36 during trading Friday but rebounded slightly to $16.76.
