Estee Lauder, Heelys, PMI Group, Wal-Mart: U.S. Equity Preview

By Katherine Greene

Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are as of 9 a.m. in New York.

Briggs & Stratton Corp. (BGG US) dropped 11 percent to $13.05. The designer of air-cooled gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment reported an unexpected loss of 15 cents a share. Two analysts estimated 22-cents in profit, the average forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

Estee Lauder Cos. (EL US) gained 6.8 percent to $48. The maker of Clinique and Bobbi Brown cosmetics said fourth-quarter profit rose 36 percent, exceeding estimates, on sales of skin lotions and lipstick in Europe and Asia.

Heelys Inc. (HLYS US) rose 14 percent to $5.55. Skechers USA Inc. (SKX US) made an unsolicited offer to buy Heelys for $142.8 million after an earlier proposal was rejected by the maker of wheeled sneakers. Skechers added 1.4 percent to $20.21.

Invesco Ltd. (IVZ US) climbed 6.5 percent to $25.10. The Atlanta-based fund manager will replace IAC/InterActiveCorp in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The addition may support its stock price as money managers tracking the S&P 500 purchase the shares.

NetApp Inc. (NTAP US) dropped 5 percent to $24.40. The maker of storage computers for companies such as Oracle Corp. (ORCL US) said fiscal second-quarter profit may be as low as 27 cents a share, or 10 percent less than the average analyst estimate, because of rising hiring costs.

PMI Group Inc. (PMI US) surged 52 percent to $4.24. QBE Insurance Group Ltd. (QBE AU) agreed to buy PMI's Asian and Australian businesses for A$1.03 billion ($896 million), a week after the U.S. mortgage insurer posted a fourth consecutive quarterly loss.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT US): The world's largest retailer said profit this year may rise more than it forecast after the fastest sales growth in more than a year drove second-quarter net income up 17 percent. Wal-Mart fell 2.3 percent to $57.88 yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Greene in New York at kgreene8@bloomberg.net.