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NYSE/NASDAQ SNAPSHOT: AOL, Nokia, Kroger, Smithfield, RIM and others

From North America: Web portal AOL’s (NYSE:AOL) stock dove almost seven per cent in trade Thursday after reporting its shareholders re-elected eight director nominees, defeating activist hedge fund Starboard, one of its largest investors.
 
The news sent the company’s share price down 6.72 per cent to $25.28 on the New York Stock Exchange, reflecting selling ahead of fears that Starboard would look to unload its 5.3 per cent stake in the company.
 
Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) said Thursday it would lay off a further 10,000 jobs globally by the end of 2013 in a further drive to save costs and streamline operations.
 
Last year, Nokia announced more than 10,000 layoffs, aimed at cutting operating expenses by 1 billion euros or $1.31 billion by 2013.
 
Futures market operator CME Group Inc. (NYSE:CME) and the trustee unwinding brokerage firm MF Global Thursday struck a deal that will see $130 million go to former customers of the collapsed firm.
Under terms of the agreement struck Thursday, CME's own claims will have a lower priority of payment than MF Global's former customers.
 
Medical device maker Edward Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) said Thursday a U.S. health regulatory advisory panel voted in favour to approve the Sapien transcatheter heart valve to treat high-risk patients with aortic stenosis.
 
Grocery store chain The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced Thursday better than expected first quarter profit, resulting in an increased earnings forecast for the year. The company also unveiled a $1 billion share repurchase program.
 
For the first quarter that ended May 19, 2012, net income totaled $439.4 million, or 78 cents per diluted share, compared to $432.3 million, or 70 cents per diluted share in the first quarter of 2011.
 
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:TEVA) said Thursday that a phase III clinical trial of a longer-acting version of Copaxon reduced relapses from multiple sclerosis more than a placebo.
 
The clinical trial assessed the efficacy, safety and tolerability of a new 40 milligram dosage of glatiramer acetate injection (GA), or Copaxon, in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients.
 
Pier 1 Imports (NYSE:PIR) said fiscal first quarter 2013 earnings rose amid sales growth as average ticket size rose and more shoppers visited their stores.
 
Earnings rose to $17.8 million, or 16 cents per share. This is up from the year-ago profit of $14.1 million or 12 cents per share. Total sales climbed 7.9 percent to $361.1 million from 334.6 million.
 
International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT) said Thursday that its board of directors has authorized a new share buyback program of up to $1 billion.
 
The global gaming company reported that it has entered into an accelerated stock buyback agreement with Goldman Sachs & Co (NYSE:GS), under which it will repurchase roughly $400 million of its common stock.
 
Smithfield Foods (NYSE:SFD), the largest U.S. pork producer by volume, said Thursday that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell 19% as sales grew slower than expected and margins shrank.
 
For the quarter ended April 29, Smithfield posted a profit of $79.5 million, or 49 cents per share, down from $98.4 million, or 59 cents a year earlier. Sales grew 3 percent to $3.21 billion.
 
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSE:RIM) will pay former co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis a combined $12 million in payouts for leaving their roles, according to regulatory filings.
 
The document was filed with securities regulators ahead of the BlackBerry smart phone maker’s annual meeting.
 
National Technical Systems (NASDAQ:NTSC) said fiscal first-quarter 2013 earnings rose 70.4 percent Thursday aided by organic growth and acquisitions.
 
National is a diversified engineering services company, and provides a wide-range of product design consulting services, testing and supply chain management solutions. It caters to the energy, telecom, automotive, aerospace and consumer markets.
 
Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) said Thursday it is buying Controladora Comercial Mexicana SAB’s 50 percent joint venture stake in Costco's Mexican division in a deal worth $760.4 million.
 
Costco Wholesale and Controladora each held a 50 percent interest in Costco de México SA de CV, which was operated by Costco Wholesale.
 
Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ:LSCC) lowered its fiscal second-quarter sales and margin forecasts on Thursday due to weakness in its worldwide distribution channel, especially in Europe.
 
Osiris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OSIR) said Thursday that it can now market in New Zealand its stem cell therapy Prochymal for the treatment of acute graft-vs-host disease (GvHD) in children, marking the company's second approval for the drug following Canada.
 
The company reported that it has received approval from Medsafe, NewZealand’s medical regulatory agency. Prochymal is the world’s first approved drug to treat GvHD, Osiris said.
 
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) maintained its top position among US Internet search services in May, taking 66.7 per cent of the market share, up 0.2 percentage points from a month earlier, while Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) lost market share for the ninth consecutive month.
 
Yahoo's share edged down 0.1 percentage point from April to 13.4 per cent.

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