Medivation, Shanda, NCI, Tenet, WellCare: U.S. Equity Preview

By Jeff Kearns

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in U.S. markets. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names, and prices are as of 8 a.m. in New York, unless stated otherwise.

Altera Corp. (ALTR US): The world's second-largest maker of programmable chips maintained its forecast for the third quarter, saying that sales will drop as much as 3 percent from the previous three months. The shares lost 19 cents to $22.18 in extended trading yesterday.

Ambac Financial Group Inc. (ABK US) jumped 14 percent to $8.05. The world's second-biggest bond insurer received approval from Wisconsin regulators to begin offering municipal bond insurance through a newly capitalized company.

ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG US): The maker of Orville Redenbacher popcorn and Slim Jim snacks said first-quarter earnings will be lower than it forecast. Earnings per share for the fiscal first quarter will probably be ``slightly below'' the 26 cents to 28 cents it announced earlier. The shares gained 0.9 percent in regular trading to $21.46.

Medivation Inc. (MDVN US) surged 30 percent to $33.90. Pfizer Inc. (PFE US) entered an agreement with the biotechnology company to develop the experimental drug Dimebon for Alzheimer's disease. Medivation will get $225 million up front from Pfizer and as much as $500 million later as development progresses, the companies said in a Business Wire statement.

NCI Building Systems Inc. (NCS US): The Houston-based maker of metal building components said full-year profit will be higher than previously forecast after it posted a 50 percent increase in third-quarter earnings. NCI forecasts fiscal 2008 earnings of $3.85 to $4 a share, up from its previous target of $3.19 to $3.44. The shares gained 6.5 percent to $39.50 in extended trading yesterday.

Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. ADRs (SNDA US): China's biggest online games provider reported second-quarter profit of 58 cents a share, more than the 52-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The shares rose 3 cents to $26.46 in extended trading.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC US) rose 3.1 percent to $6.27. The second-biggest publicly held U.S. hospital chain was raised to ``buy'' from ``hold'' at Deutsche Bank AG, which said the company may exceed analyst expectations in the next year and that it may cut its net debt by the end of this year.

WellCare Health Plans Inc. (WCG US): The U.S. managed-care provider being investigated for possible fraud hired Rex M. Adams as its chief operating officer. WellCare lost 22 cents to $41.54 in regular trading.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Kearns in New York at jkearns3@bloomberg.net.