Taking stock: Earnings reports spark big moves in locals

Brookdale the day's big winner, but Delek and Advocat plummet

08-07-2008 4:04 PM —

Second-quarter earnings announced this morning made for volatile days for several local stocks – most of them ending with big losses.

O’Charley’s, which this morning reported a quarterly loss and lowered its outlook for the rest of the year, fell 4.6 percent to $10.95. The good news for investors in the restaurant company (Ticker: CHUX) is that the shares opened below $10 but gradually clawed their way back to more respectable losses at the close.

Heading in the opposite direction were shares of Delek US Holdings, the parent of Mapco Express. Rising oil prices have hit its margins and investors steadily sold off the shares (Ticker: DK) today, leaving them off 17 percent at $7.53, less than 3 percent above their 52-week lows.

Taking the cake on the downside, however, was nursing home operator Advocat, which crashed more than 30 percent after reporting profits that were down more than 80 percent from last year.

Advocat (Ticker: AVCA) ended the day at $6.90 after closing above $10 yesterday. The stock, which usually trades just 12,000 shares per day, traded 290,000 shares today.

The positive exception to today’s earnings-related trading was Brookdale Senior Living, which acquired American Retirement Corp. in 2006 and recently moved its headquarters to Brentwood.

After reporting a small second-quarter loss on rising revenues, the company’s stock (Ticker: BKD) opened up 12 percent and tacked on a few more points during the day. It closed at $18.85, up more than 16 percent from yesterday’s close.