lululemon

lululemon Insurer Travelers ($58.83, -$2.25, -3.68%) said it was slowing its share-buyback program after natural disasters cost the company about $1 billion over two months, already marking the second quarter as its most expensive for catastrophes since Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. in 2005. Lululemon Athletica's ($90.34, +$4.20, +4.88%) fiscal first-quarter results came in ahead of both analysts' expectations and company guidance as demand for the company's high-end yoga wear continued to grow, leading the company to bump up its guidance for fiscal 2011. Live Nation Entertainment ($10.86, +$0.56, +5.44%) Chairman Irving Azoff and the company's largest shareholder, Liberty Media Corp.'s (LSTZA, LSTZB) John Malone, are in early talks to consider taking the company private, the New York Post reported Friday on its website, citing a person close to Live Nation. Two years after scrapping plans to sell its Adam Opel unit.

General Motors Co. (GM, $28.86, -$0.59, -2.01%) is open to selling the struggling brand if it gets an offer more favorable than the one it rejected in 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. Horace Mann Educators Corp. (HMN, $14.85, -$0.39, -2.56%) slashed its current-year earnings forecast as it estimated catastrophe losses of $45 million to $50 million for April and May due to deadly tornadoes and severe storms.
Other Stocks In Focus:
Barclays Capital cut its stock-investment rating on AstraZeneca PLC (AZN, $50.50, -$1.44, -2.77%) (AZN.LN) to underweight from overweight, citing uncertainty ahead of the key Brilinta regulatory decision--which is expected by July 20--and Crestor's weakening market share in the U.S. "While we remain optimistic the FDA will approve Brilinta, we see reasonable arguments both for and against approval," said the brokerage. Crestor performed poorly in the first quarter and that doesn't augur well for sales through the rest of the year, the firm said. An Illinois jury on Thursday awarded $625,000 to the estate of a Chicago-area man who was administered a blood-thinning drug that contained a contaminated ingredient that medical-products company Baxter International Inc. (BAX, $57.99, -$0.91, -1.55%) manufactured in China. Credit Suisse upgraded its stock-investment rating on Black Hills Corp. (BKH, $28.65, +$0.44, +1.56%) to outperform from neutral, citing the recent stock-price pullback as volatility in the non-regulated operations clouded a good story in the about 80% of regulated earnings. Analysts are upbeat about Northera's prospects in the wake of the hypotension drug's latest drug data released by Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd. (CHTP, $4.99, +$0.79, +18.81%). Roth Capital sees FDA approval possible as early as the first quarter as it triples its price target to $18. It expects the drug could generate $250 million of annual U.S. revenue by 2015, with international sales starting that year.

lululemon