Herbalife surges, Agilent falls after hours

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) � Herbalife Ltd. shares rallied Thursday evening as activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a significant stake in the wellness-products company, while shares of Agilent Technologies Inc. and CBS Corp. dropped following lower-than-expected quarterly results.

/quotes/zigman/216117/quotes/nls/a A 44.58, -0.17, -0.38% Agilent Technologies Inc.

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed hedge fund titan Icahn has accumulated a 12.98% stake in Herbalife HLF , and considers the company as having �a legitimate business model, with favorable long-term opportunities for growth.�

The news ignited a 21% price jump in Herbalife shares to $46.30 in heavy volume.

The regulatory filing also indicated Icahn plans to hold discussions with Herbalife�s management about �business and strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, such as a recapitalization or a going-private transaction.�

Late last month, Icahn and hedge fund heavyweight Bill Ackman verbally sparred over the merits of Herbalife during a live segment on CNBC. Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, had a short position on Herbalife, which he called a �well-managed pyramid scheme.� Look back at Icahn vs. Ackman showdown.

Shares of Agilent A � dropped 7.9% to $41.05 after the company�s fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings came in at 63 cents a share. Analysts polled by Factset had expected, on average, earnings of 67 cents a share. Revenue rose to $1.68 billion from $1.64 billion a year ago. Wall Street was looking for $1.69 billion in sales for the most recent period. See: Agilent Q1 earnings slide on margin weakness.

Before the selloff, shares of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company had a year-to-date gain of 8.9%.

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CBS Corp. CBS shares fell 1.3% to $42.40. The company�s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings were 64 cents a share, below Wall Street�s projection by 5 cents a share. Total revenue rose to $3.7 billion, up from $3.61 billion a year ago, but less than the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion for the most recent period.

CBS also said it will accelerate a share buyback program by $1 billion this year. The company bought back $1.15 billion worth of shares in 2012, at an average cost of $33 a share. � More on CBS's quarterly results.

At the same time, investors knocked down shares of LogMeIn LOGM �by 22% to $18.50 after a disappointing forecast from the provider of remote-access services. Read about LogMeIn's outlook.

Before the evening session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA � slipped 10 points to 13,973.39. The S&P 500 index SPX �rose 1.05 points 1,521.88 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP �rose 2 points to end at 3,198.66. See more about Thursday�s action in U.S. stocks.