Archive for November, 2009

Dataram Inc. (Nasdaq: DRAM) Buzz Stock of the Day

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009


Shares of Dataram, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRAM) increased nearly 28 percent in trading Tuesday, touching on a high of $5.49. Volume topped 3.3 million shares, compared to the 50-day average daily volume of 183,000, according to the Nasdaq.

The stock appears to be moving on technicals, in the absence of any company-specific news; volume and momentum have continually increased. Since the beginning of August, shares of Dataram are up 260%.

Dataram, a worldwide leader in the manufacture of high-quality computer memory, storage products and software, attributes the steady climb in stock prices to increasing interest in solid-state storage products.

Solid-state storage is quickly becoming an attractive alternative to traditional hard disk drive in many IT infrastructures. Leveraging the benefits of solid-state storage in a dedicated appliance is a smart move for businesses, enabling companies to improve application performance, leverage existing IT investments and cut costs.

Dataram’s Chief Technologist Jason Caulkins stated, “In a world of increasing data, higher-volume transactions and tighter budgets, IT departments should definitely evaluate solid-state solutions that maximize performance while minimizing cost. Solid-state storage appliances offer customers significant benefits due to their ability to seamlessly integrate into existing SANs, dynamically cache I/O-intensive data, dramatically accelerate application performance and provide an immediate return on investment.”

The New Jersey-based Dataram was founded in 1967 and specializes in high-quality computer memory, IT infrastructure optimization, maximum application performance and substantial cost savings. Dataram solutions are deployed in 70 Fortune 100 companies and in mission-critical government and defense applications around the world.

ARCA Biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABIO) Buzz Stock of the Day

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Shares of ARCA Biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ABIO) surged more than 87 percent in trading Monday after the company announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given the company fast-track designation for its experimental drug Gencaro, a treatment for chronic heart failure.
The news Monday skyrocketed the shares to a high of $4.50 and ARCA Biopharma topped the Biggest Percentage Price Gainers among common stocks on Nasdaq.

Gencaro, the ARCA’s investigational, pharmacologically-unique beta-blocker and mild vasodilator, is designed to reduce cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular hospitalizations in a genotype-defined heart failure population.

Michael R. Bristow, President and Chief Executive Officer of ARCA stated, “Fast Track designation for the Gencaro development program is an important acknowledgement of the need for advancements in the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure, a disease afflicting approximately 6 million people in the United States with approximately 550,000 new cases diagnosed each year.”

The FDA employs fast-track status is to expedite the review of drugs to treat serious diseases and fill unmet medical needs. ARCA plans to submit a study protocol to the USFDA under the administration’s Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) during the fourth quarter of 2009. ARCA expects to commence clinical trials in late 2010 or the first half of 2011 to assess the safety and efficacy of Gencaro in approximately 3,000 patients with chronic heart failure who have the genotype that appears to respond most favorably to Gencaro.

Bristow continued, “If the SPA is approved by the FDA and the Company is able to obtain financing, this proposed clinical trial would be the first full sized cardiovascular trial performed in a genetically defined subpopulation to predict efficacy enhancement by the tested drug. As such, the proposed trial would be a landmark undertaking in pharmacogenetic drug development.”

ARCA biopharma began operations in 2005 and is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. ARCA is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing genetically targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases.

Netlist, Inc. (Nasdaq: NLST) Buzz Stock of the Day

Monday, November 16th, 2009


Shares of Netlist, Inc. (Nasdaq: NLST) were up as much as 53 percent in morning trading Monday after the company said it will introduce HyperCloud, the first 16-gigabyte, 2 vRank memory module for computer servers at the Supercomputing 2009 conference. According to Nasdaq, the 50-day average daily volume for Netlist is 368,000, on Monday, the volume reached 14,751,125.

The Irvine, California-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of memory subsystems primarily for the server, high-performance computing and communications markets, will be demonstrating the world’s first 16GB 2 virtual rank (vRank) double-data-rate three, registered dual in-line memory module (DDR3 RDIMM), HyperCloud(TM) at the Supercomputing trade-show, taking place in Portland, Oregon during November 17-19, 2009.

Netlist will also showcase the interoperability of HyperCloud memory with standard JEDEC server memory solutions on popular enterprise servers. This demonstration reinforces HyperCloud’s ability to function as a standard RDIMM while increasing memory bandwidth and capacity for datacenter servers.

“This technology maximizes server utilization with a simple plug-and-play memory module,” said Paul Duran, director of business development at Netlist. “HyperCloud enables high-performance cloud computing while reducing datacenter costs and increasing application performance.”

To showcase its 2-vRank HyperCloud modules, Netlist is using industry standard servers, such as the HP ProLiant DL380, demonstrated in the following configurations: 8GB and 16GB 2 vRank DDR3 RDIMM functionality, Three 2 vRank modules per channel, 1333 Mega Transfers per second (MT/s), Interoperability with standard JEDEC DDR3 modules, Interoperability with different RDIMM capacities.

“Customers running memory intensive computing environments, such as virtualization, cloud computing, and HPC applications, are often limited by memory bottlenecks in their servers,” said Mike Gill, vice president, Industry Standard Servers Platform Engineering at HP. “The Netlist technology on HP industry-standard servers increases server memory capacity and bandwidth to enhance application performance in converged infrastructures.”

Netlist was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Irvine, California with manufacturing facilities in Suzhou, People’s Republic of China. The Company’s memory subsystems are developed for applications in which high-speed, high-capacity memory, enhanced functionality, small form factor, and heat dissipation are key requirements. These applications include tower-servers, rack-mounted servers, blade servers, high-performance computing clusters, engineering workstations, and telecommunication equipment.

Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSII) Buzz Stock of the Day

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009


Shares of Cardiovascular Systems, Inc (CSI) have been steadily rising in the week following the Company’s announcement of promising financials for the first quarter fiscal 2010 ended September 30, 2009.

CSI increased revenue 30 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, to $15.2 million compared to revenue of $11.6 million for the same quarter of the previous year. Likewise, CSI’s net loss improved 55 percent to $(6.2) million, or $(0.43) per basic and diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, from $(13.7) million, or $(2.75) per basic and diluted share, for the same quarter 2009.

David L. Martin, CSI president and chief executive officer, said, “Balancing revenue growth with effective expense management helped drive a substantial reduction in our loss from the fiscal 2009 first quarter, moving CSI toward our goal of profitability.”

The number of weighted average common shares outstanding increased to 14.5 million from 5.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, primarily due to new shares issued in conjunction with the February 2009 reverse merger with Replidyne, Inc., including the conversion of all preferred stock of the company to common stock.

Additionally, the fiscal first-quarter 2010 gross margin increased to 77 percent from 67 percent in the same period last year, driven by higher disposable volumes, manufacturing efficiencies, product cost reductions and shipment of fewer controller units. Operating expenses decreased 18 percent, due to effective expense management, the year-earlier write-off of $1.7 million in IPO costs, and completion and timing of development projects and clinical studies.

Adjusted EBITDA, calculated as loss from operations, less depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation expense, improved by 70 percent to a loss of $(3.6) million versus a loss of $(11.8) million in the year-ago period. Cash and cash equivalents remained strong at $30.8 million and included $3.0 million of net funding received in conjunction with signing an agreement to establish a second production facility in Pearland, Texas.

Martin continued, “During the quarter, we focused on driving adoption in existing accounts, including re-educating physicians on proper clinical protocols for using the Diamondback 360° to change lesion compliance in vessels above the knee. As a result, we are seeing greater product usage in many accounts. These improvements were offset by seasonal weakness in endovascular procedures, resulting in revenue slightly below our expected range.”

The number of hospitals using the Diamondback 360® PAD System rose to 611 by the end of the fiscal 2010 first quarter, a nearly 90-percent increase over a year ago and 55 more than the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009. Sales of disposable device units totaled 4,541 units in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 versus 3,636 units in the first quarter of last fiscal year, a 25-percent increase. Revenue generated from customer reorders continued to grow, increasing to 92 percent of total revenue for the fiscal 2010 first quarter from 72 percent in last year’s first quarter.

Onstream Media Corporation (Nasdaq: ONSM) Buzz Stock of the Day

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Shares of video services provider, Onstream Media Corp. (Nasdaq: ONSM) were up almost 28 percent today after the company announced several new contracts with federal government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service and the Housing Department.

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“Our business relationships with various federal and state governments have never been stronger,” said Randy Selman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Onstream Media in a statement. “As demand for our multi-media web communication products and services continues to increase on the commercial side of our business, we’re also pleased to report continued growth in the government sector, which we expect to continue to rise in the years to come.”

Onstream Media announced that it will provide its comprehensive Digital Media Services Platform (DMSP) and live and on-demand webcasting services for ongoing education and targeted outreach delivery services for the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS will use Onstream Media’s technology to communicate important tax information to tax professionals, small businesses, and self-employed taxpayers in more dynamic, web-friendly and innovative formats such as podcasts, webinars, live broadcasts or other forms of web-based media.

Additionally, the company announced an agreement with strategic partner REJ & Associates, Inc. to provide Webinar services to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Philadelphia Homeownership Center (HOC).

Onstream Media is also subcontracted to provide audio-based web conferencing services that enable FHA to bring employees and other participants from around the country together for online workshops, seminars and trainings. REJ & Associates, Inc. is a leading provider of integrated marketing and communications services based in Baltimore, MD.

Lastly, the NRC has exercised its first one year option to renew and extend its multi-year agreement with Onstream Media to provide ongoing webcasting, streaming media and multi-media services. The company began providing the NRC with its webcasting services in March, 2008.