Stocks to Watch: Immucor, Credit Suisse

SAN FRANCISCO – Among the companies whose shares are likely to see active trade during Wednesday's session are Immucor Inc. and Credit Suisse Group.

Immucor Inc. (BLUD) is expected to report fiscal first-quarter earnings of 22 cents a share, according to a Thomson Financial survey of analysts.

RPM International Inc. (RPM) is expected to report earnings of 55 cents a share for its fiscal first quarter.

Smart Modular Technologies Inc. (SMOD) is forecast to post a profit of 20 cents a share for its fiscal fourth quarter.

Wolverine World Wide Inc. (WWW) is forecast to post earnings of 53 cents a share for the third quarter.

After Tuesday's closing bell, Micron Technology Inc. (MU) swung to a quarterly net loss of $158 million, or 21 cents a share, as it continued to be dragged down by prices declines for its memory chips used in PCs and consumer electronics.

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AirTran Holdings Inc.'s (AAI) September traffic at its AirTran Airways unit increased 32 percent to 1.26 million revenue passenger miles from $949,919. Capacity increased 19 percent to 1.83 million from 1.54 million a year ago. Load factor, or the percentage of the plane filled with passengers, rose 6.7 percentage points to 68.5 percent.

Bob Evans Farms Inc.'s (BOBE) September same-store sales rose 0.4 percent, driven in part by the company's new stir-fry promotion. Same-store sales at Mimi's Cafe fell 2 percent.

Capstone Turbine (CPST) said it received an initial order for $3.8 million of microturbine systems from Greenvironment Oy, its distributor in Finland and Germany.

Credit Suisse (CS) said it was cutting 170 investment banking jobs, mostly in its fixed-income business. About 100 jobs in the commercial mortgage-backed securities unit will be eliminated. The remaining 70 jobs will be scattered across the investment bank. "In line with the current market environment we've made targeted reductions to adjust for capacity to meet diminished client demand," said a spokeswoman reading from a statement.

Hershey Co. (HSY) said David West will become the chocolate maker's new chief executive on Dec. 1, succeeding Richard Lenny. West, who has served as Hershey's chief operating officer since 2005, will assume the duties of president and join the board immediately. Lenny will continue as chairman until the end of the year. Board member Robert Campbell will become the company's non-executive chairman on Jan. 1, 2008.

International Rectifier Corp. (IRF) , a maker of power management products, said Alex Lidow resigned as chief executive and from the company's board. In late August, Lidow went on a leave of absence with pay while the company's audit committee resolved a wrongful conduct investigation. Don Dancer, the company's acting CEO since August 28, will continue as CEO until a permanent successor is named.

Midway Games Inc. (MWY) lowered its projected financial results for the third quarter, citing shifts of the release dates on a pair of upcoming video game titles. Midway has decided to shift "Stranglehold" for Sony's PlayStation 3 from the third quarter to the fourth quarter. The company said it may move "Unreal Tournament 3" into the first quarter of next year. Also, sales of "BlackSite: Area 51" have been slower than expected. The company now expects $39 million in revenue and a net loss of 33 cents a share for the third quarter. Previous forecasts called for revenue of $50 million with a net loss of 23 cents a share

Westwood One Inc.'s (WON) directors have approved a programming and distribution arrangement with CBS Radio, a division of CBS Corp. (CBS) . The arrangement, which had been scheduled to expire on March 31, 2009, will run through March 2017. Westwood One has recommended that shareholders approve the plans at its annual meeting, to be held early in the first quarter of 2008.