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Groupon, Inc. (GRPN) soars after announcement of new credit card payment system

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

Shares of Groupon, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRPN) were up more than 10 percent from Tuesday’s closing price in morning trading on Wednesday after the company announced the launch of Groupon Payments, a new service that offers merchants a low-cost option to accept credit cards.

Groupon shares touched a high of $5.17 in morning trading on Wednesday, up from Tuesday’s closing price of $4.69.

According to a September 19 press release, Groupon Payments allows any merchant that runs a deal with Groupon in the U.S. to accept payments “at the lowest rates in today’s market place.” The press release stated that MasterCard, Visa and Discover transactions will cost merchants 1.8 percent and a 15 cent transaction fee, and American Express transactions will cost merchants 3 percent plus a 15 percent transaction fee.

“Our goal is to provide merchants with the most affordable and powerful tools to run and grow their businesses,” said Mihir Shah, VP Mobile and Merchant Products at Groupon in the September 19 press release. “With groundbreaking pricing and service, Groupon Payments does just that.”

The technology was initially tested int he San Francisco Bay area. And although the rates may seem attractive, Groupon faces stiff competition from EBay’s PayPal unit and Square, a service founded by Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter).

Despite the competition, Groupon’s rates are somewhat lower than competitors’ rates. Square charges 2.75 percent per swipe, or $275 per month. PayPal charges 2.7 percent, the Associated Press reported.

Shares of Groupon are down about 50 percent over the past three months.

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MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (MTSL) soars on improved second quarter results

Friday, August 17th, 2012

MTS Telemanagement SolutionsShares of Israel-based business support systems provider MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (Nasdaq: MTSL) soared as much as 77 percent from Thursday’s closing price in morning trading on Friday after the company announced improved results for the second quarter of 2012 over the same period last year.

MTSL hit an intraday high of $2.84 per share on Friday, up from Thursday’s closing price of $1.60.

Revenue for the second quarter was $3.3 million, up from $3 million in the same period a year ago. Operating income from the quarter skyrocketed to $517,000, a 170 percent improvement over operating profit of $191,000 for the same quarter a year earlier. Net income improved to $460,000, or 10 cents per share, up from $229,000 or 5 cents per share in the second quarter of 2011.

“Our second quarter results represent continued improvements in our financial results and indicators as a result of our efforts to develop our Telecom Expense Management opportunities through partners, new customer acquisitions and expanding our existing customer base,” said Eytan Bar, CEO of MTS in an August 16 press release. “In addition, our company’s Billing and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) activity as a managed service has grown and we were able to sign an additional managed service agreement with a new MVNO in the U.S. and we see other opportunities in this market. We are looking forward to improving both our top and bottom line performance.”

Shares of MTSL are up more than 50 percent over the past three months.

 

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DynaVox, Inc. (DVOX) rises after reporting better-than-expected Q1 results

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Shares of communication and education products maker DynaVox, Inc. (Nasdaq: DVOX) were up as much as 35 percent from Wednesday’s closing price in morning trading on Thursday, after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2012.

DVOX touched a high of $4.57 on Thursday, up from Wednesday’s closing price of $3.38.

For the quarter ended September 30, the Pittsburgh-based company reported net sales of $26.2 million, up 21 percent over net sales of $21.6 million for the same quarter last year, and above the consensus estimate of $22.97 million. Key drivers behind the sales growth included a 17 percent increase in the company’s speech generating devices, and a 39 percent increase in sales of  DynaVox’s special education software.

DynaVox’s net income was $0.05 per share, beating the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.03.

For fiscal year 2012, DynaVox continues to project net sales to grow in the range of 3 percent to 7 percent from fiscal year 2011. The Company also continues to expect Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal year 2012 to be in the range of $23 million to $27 million and adjusted pro forma net income per share to be in the range of $0.28 to $0.36.

“We are pleased with our double digit sales growth and significantly improved bottom line performance during the first quarter, which validate that we are executing well within the new normal operating climate,” said Ed Donnelly, DynaVox’s Chief Executive Officer in a November 9 news release.

Shares of DVOX are down about 15 percent over the past three months.

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SMTC Corp. (SMTX) raises guidance, shares soar

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

Shares of SMTC Corp. (Nasdaq: SMTX) were up as much as 60 percent from Monday’s closing price in morning trading on Tuesday after the electronics manufacturing services provider raised its fourth quarter EBITDA guidance to $4 million, up from previous Q4 guidance of $3 million in EBITDA.

“We continue to expect Q3 to be our weakest quarter of the year, and anticipate generating $825,000 in EBITDA for the quarter,” said Claude Germain, Co-Chief Executive Officer in an October 25 press release. “However, due to new program wins from both current and new customers, recent cost reduction initiatives, and our recent acquisition, we now expect the business to generate $4.0 million in EBITDA in Q4, up from our prior guidance of $3.0 million.”

EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. EBITDA is computed as Net income from continuing operations excluding depreciation, amortization, restructuring charges, interest and income tax expense.

Founded in 1985, SMTC Corp. is a mid-size provider of end-to-end electronics manufacturing services including PCBA production, systems integration and comprehensive testing services, enclosure fabrication, product design, sustaining engineering and supply chain management services.

In addition to revising its fourth quarter guidance, SMTC Corp. also said it now expects 2012 EBITDA guidance of $13 million and $240 million in revenue.

“In order to meet higher Q4 orders, we added to labor and increased working capital in late Q3. However, we continue to expect to generate positive operating cash flow for the year, and to generate strong free cash flow in 2012,” said Alex Walker, Co-CEO of SMTC Corp. “We also expect our sizable tax loss carry-forwards to offset future taxable income and further increase earnings and cash flow.”

SMTC Corp.’s third quarter results conference call is scheduled to be held on Wednesday November 9, 2011 at 5 p.m. ET.

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Prana Biotechnology Ltd. (PRAN) soars on news of effectiveness of Alzheimer’s treatment

Monday, September 19th, 2011

Shares of Prana Biotechnology Ltd. (Nasdaq: PRAN) touched a daily high of $2.31 per share, up more than 34 percent from Friday’s closing price, after it was announced that The Journal Of Neurochemistry has published an update on the mechanism of action of PBT2 in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The study explains how PBT2 is able to restore cognition in AD sufferers through repair of affected Alzheimer’s brains. The findings further explain the rapid improvement in cognition previously reported in transgenic Alzheimer’s mice and in patients in a Phase IIa clinical trial with PBT2. These new results further explain how PBT2 can achieve rapid improvements in cognition: by liberation of copper and zinc trapped in amyloid deposits and returning those essential metals to neurons, where they are needed for normal function.

The Australia-based Prana Biotechnology Ltd. also recently received a “very positive reaction” from international patient groups and researchers at this week’s World Congress on Huntington’s Disease in Melbourne, according to a September 15 press release.

Huntington’s disease is a disorder passed down through families in which nerve cells in certain parts of the brain waste away, or degenerate.

“Prana and our collaborators at major research institutions have been conducting extensive research into neurodegenerative diseases for more than a decade, including our efforts to learn more about Huntington’s,” said Prana’s Executive Chairman, Geoffrey Kempler in the September 15 press release. “Since we decided to conduct a Phase IIa trial of our experimental drug PBT2 in Huntington’s patients, the Huntington’s community has been very quick to support our research program.”

Prana Biotechnology Ltd. engages in the research and development of therapeutic drugs for neurological diseases in Australia. The company primarily focuses on the Alzheimer‘s, Parkinson‘s, and Huntington‘s diseases, as well as various age-related degenerative disorders. Its development stage product line includes PBT2, a phase IIb clinical product intended for the Alzheimer’s disease; and PBT2, a phase IIa clinical product for the Huntington’s disease.

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