Emcore, Halliburton, Hormel, Landry's, NRG: U.S. Equity Movers

By Elizabeth Campbell and Whitney Kisling

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies are having unusual price changes in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are as of 9:35 a.m. in New York.

Emcore Corp. (EMKR US) rose 22 percent to $4.49 and gained 30 percent earlier for the biggest rally since Sept. 18. The solar-power company may rise to $10 a share in two years if its plan to build a more efficient solar cell catches on, Barron's said, citing Chris Chaney, an analyst at Stanford Financial Group Co.

Halliburton Co. (HAL US) climbed 15 percent to $21 and advanced 24 percent earlier for the biggest gain since Oct. 13. The world's second-largest oilfield-services provider reported per-share profit, excluding some items, of 76 cents, 2 cents higher than the average of 24 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Cuts in spending by producers will lead to lower rig counts than expected, Chief Executive Officer David Lesar said in a statement. This may lead to lower gas supplies and more favorable conditions for the company.

Other oil shares rose. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM US), the world's largest oil company, advanced 3.1 percent to $70.14. ConocoPhillips (COP US) rose 2.9 percent to $54.48. Chevron Corp. (CVX US) added 4.3 percent to $65.05. Hess Corp.(HES US) gained 7.2 percent to $54.20. Suncor Energy Inc. (SU US) climbed 5.4 percent to $23.08.

Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL US) fell 12 percent to $29.85 and dropped 16 percent earlier for the biggest plunge since October 1987. The maker of Spam luncheon meat cut its 2008 earnings forecast to $2.03 to $2.09 a share from an earlier prediction of $2.22 to $2.28 because of higher costs and the decline in global financial markets.

Landry's Restaurants Inc. (LNY US) rose 16 percent to $10.55 and climbed 21 percent earlier for the biggest gain since April 4. The owner of The Crab House and Rainforest Cafe chains said it approved a lowered, $13.50-a-share takeover offer from Chief Executive Officer Tilman Fertitta due to instability in the credit markets.

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG US) rose 25 percent to $24.07 and surged 27 percent earlier for the steepest gain since it began trading in December 2003. Exelon Corp. (EXC US), the biggest U.S. operator of nuclear power plants, made an unsolicited all-stock offer to buy NRG for $6.2 billion, the second attempted nuclear power acquisition in North America in five weeks as asset prices tumble amid the credit freeze. Exelon lost 3.9 percent to $52.39.

Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU US) lost 5.8 percent to $39.36. The second-biggest U.S. life insurer was added to the conviction sell list from ``neutral'' at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which cited the company's ``significant exposure'' to the mortgage crisis.

MetLife Inc. (MET US) slipped 3.8 percent to $29.95. The biggest U.S. life insurer was lowered to ``neutral'' from ``buy'' at Goldman on the possibility of asset writedowns.

Syneron Medical Ltd. (ELOS US) slid 11 percent to $10.14 and dropped to $9.65 earlier, the lowest price since August 2004. The maker of medical products said third-quarter profit was as low as 11 cents a share, or 59 percent less than the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

To contact the reporters on this story: Elizabeth Campbell in New York at ecampbell11@bloomberg.net; Whitney Kisling in New York at wkisling@bloomberg.net.