Market Minute: Barnes & Noble CEO Resigns; Microsoft Poised to Restructure

Upheaval at Barnes & Noble, and an overhaul at Microsoft. Those stocks and more are in the news Tuesday.

The Dow industrials (^DJI) gained nearly 89 points Monday, while the S&P 500 (^GPSC) added 8 and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) edged 5 points higher.

Barnes & Noble (BKS) CEO William Lynch has resigned, effective immediately. The company promoted three other executives, but didn't name a successor to Lynch. His departure comes just two weeks after the retailer reported a surprisingly big loss, partly due to problems at its Nook e-reader division, which was one of Lynch's major initiatives.

Microsoft (MSFT) is reportedly set to announce a major restructuring. AllThingsD says the announcement could come Thursday, and will focus on software and devices.

Goldman Sachs (GS) has lowered its rating on IBM (IBM) to "neutral."

How about a $2.5 billion grocery bill? Kroger (KR) is paying that much to buy Harris Teeter Supermarkets (HTSI), which has more than 200 stores in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.

AT&T (T), DirecTV (DTV), and the private-equity firm KKR (KKR) have all submitted bids to buy the streaming video site Hulu. The current owners -- Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK), Walt Disney (DIS) and News Corp.'s (NWS) 21st Century Fox unit –- had set a Friday deadline for offers.

Alcoa (AA) kicked off the quarterly earnings season by topping analyst expectations. The aerospace and auto industries used more of the company's metals and fasteners in their latest models.

The outlook for Intel, Samsung and other chipmakers is improving. An industry trade group expects revenue for chip-manufacturing equipment to jump by 21 percent next year, bouncing back from an anticipated decline this year. But Intel (INTC) shares took a hit Monday after three influential analysts issued cautious comments about the industry leader.

We're watching shares of online travel company Priceline.com (PCLN). It has gained ground for nine straight trading days -- and now Morgan Stanley (MS) has raised its rating on the stock to "overweight."

Shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) are set to tumble after revising down its revenue outlook for the second quarter. The company cites slow sales of its robotic surgery machines.

But it should be smooth sailing for WD-40 Co. (WDFC), after earnings easily topped expectations.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg

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