Wells' shares dropped 58 cents to close at $58.93 in Tuesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific Corp. said its first-quarter profit rose 85 percent as the medical device maker extended a more than year-long profit surge on sales of its market-leading drug-coated heart stent. The company said, however, that it expects sales growth to return to more moderate levels in the coming quarters.

The Massachusetts-based company, which has purchased controlling interest in Salt Lake-based Rubicon Medical Corp., on Tuesday reported net income of $358 million for the January-March period, or 42 cents per share, compared with a profit of $194 million, or 23 cents per share, in last year's first quarter. Sales rose to $1.62 billion, up 49 percent from $1.082 billion a year ago.

The profit was reduced by $73 million in expenses related to Boston Scientific's acquisition of Advanced Stent Technologies. Excluding the charges, Boston Scientific's profit came in at $431 million, or 51 cents per share, matching the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Boston Scientific's shares dropped $1.70, or 5.5 percent, to close at $29.05 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $28.56 to $45.76.

Pulitzer

Pulitzer Inc., which publishes the Provo Daily Herald, said Tuesday its first-quarter earnings slid 13.6 percent from a year ago, reflecting costs associated with the search for a buyout partner that led to its pending sale to Lee Enterprises Inc.

St. Louis-based Pulitzer — publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Arizona Daily Star — said net income fell to $7 million, or 32 cents per share, for the three months ended March 27. That compared with $8.1 million, or 37 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue increased 3.3 percent to $106.1 million, from $102.7 million in the prior year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for the company to post earnings of 40 cents per share in the latest quarter.

Pulitzer shares rose 8 cents to close at $63.72 in Tuesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange — near the high end of their 52-week trading range of $43.71 to $65.89.

Intel

Intel Corp., which has about 350 workers in Riverton, said first-quarter profit jumped 25 percent as demand for microprocessors used in notebook computers grew and the world's largest chip maker saw lower-than-expected manufacturing costs.

The California-based company also said it expects second-quarter sales to be between $8.6 billion and $9.2 billion, which would be in line with Wall Street expectations.