Aaron's Shares Fall After Lowered Q3 Outlook, Facebook Surges

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.19 percent to 15,024.70 while the NASDAQ gained 0.56 percent to 3,795.34. The S&P also rose, surging 0.30 percent to 1,683.76.

Top Headline
Yesterday, Comtech Telecommunications (CMTL) reported upbeat fiscal fourth quarter results and issued a strong full-year outlook.

Comtech's quarterly earnings fell to $5.2 million, or $0.28 per share, from $7.9 million, or $0.38 per share, in the year-ago quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.21 per share. Its revenue declined to $84.4 million from $112.8 million.

For its 2014 fiscal year, Comtech projects to earn $1.07 to $1.19 per share on revenue of $320 million to $340 million. Analysts estimated earnings of $1.04 per share.

Equities Trading UP
Harte-Hanks (HHS) shot up 5.64 percent to $8.44 after BMO Capital upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform.

Shares of Moneygram International (MGI) got a boost, shooting up 2.82 percent to $18.94 after analysts at Compass Point upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy.

Facebook (FB) was also up, gaining 2.57 percent to $50.45. Facebook's Instagram reported that it will introduce advertisements in the coming months. Sterne Agee raised the price target on the stock from $50.00 to $58.00.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Aaron's (AAN) were down 1.63 percent to $27.21 after the company lowered its Q3 outlook.

Lannett Company (LCI) shares tumbled 13.52 percent to $18.10 after the company priced an underwritten public offering of 5,869,566 shares of common stock at a price of $18.00 per share.

CSX (CSX) was down, falling 2.02 percent to $25.16 after Citigroup downgraded downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.30 percent to $103.62, while gold traded down 0.51 percent to $1,310.90.

Silver traded down 0.56 percent Friday to $21.67, while copper rose 1.15 percent to $3.31.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.26 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 1.59 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.32 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.88 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.18 percent.

Economics On the economics calendar Friday, there is no important data due out.

BY Jake L'Ecuyer