Posts Tagged ‘nasdaq’

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CFS, ARTG, CCUR – Buzz Stocks With Unusual Activity

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Comforce Corp. (AMEX: CFS) advanced 53.71% in the opening half-hour of trading to $2.49, on 299,974 shares, compared to a daily average of 9,408 shares. The volume and sharp rise comes amid news that the company agreed to be taken over by an affiliate of ABRY Partners for $2.50 per share of common stock, a premium of approximately 77.4% over Comforce’s 30-day average closing stock price, and a 52-week high for the issue. Comforce Corporation is a leading provider of outsourced staffing management services.

Art Technology Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ARTG) leaped 45.49% to $5.97, on volume of 41,975,948 shares, towering above its three-month daily average of 1,135,700 shares, on the verge of an announcement that Oracle was about to buy ATG for $1 billion, thus adding the maker of e-commerce software to Oracle’s business-software offerings. Oracle will pay $6 a share, a 46% premium to Monday’s closing price and a level last seen in 2001 as the Internet bubble was still deflating.

Concurrent Computer Corporation (Nasdaq: CCUR) took it on the chin 30.43% to $4.80 in the first hour of trading, on early volume of 262,578, compared its daily three-month average of 32,128 shares. The news comes a day after Concurrent declared disappointing third-quarter figures. The company, a worldwide leader in video and media data and advertising solutions, reported revenue for the quarter of $15.5 million, with a loss of 14 cents a share. The stock’s 52-week range bottomed out at 3.38 and peaked at 7.31

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Posted in Consumer Discretionary Stocks, Consumer Staples Stocks, Financial Stocks | No Comments »

Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Shares of network security systems maker, Fortinet, Inc. (Nasdaq: FTNT) were up as much as 22 percent from Friday’s closing price in morning trading on Monday, after rumors of a takeover approach from International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM).

Although it has not yet been made public, discussions between the two companies may be at an advanced stage, though a deal could still fall apart, Bloomberg reported. IBM approached Fortinet six to eight weeks ago, a source told Bloomberg. The world’s largest computer services provider has spent more than $20 billion on 100 acquisitions since CEO, Sam Palmisano took over in 2002.
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Fortinet focuses on all-in-one network security systems, and has customers ranging from small businesses to large phone carriers. To date, Fortinet has shipped more than 500,000 appliances to more than 75,000 customers worldwide. The Sunnyvale-based company was founded in 2000, and went public last year.

The company was taken public by Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank on November 17, 2009 and raised $156 million in gross proceeds. Fortinet rose 33 percent on its first day of trading and continued upward, ending the year up 41 percent, making it one of the top ten performing IPOs of 2009.

Fortinet’s profit increased almost two-fold to $14 million or 17 cents per share in the third quarter, up from $6.4 million, or 10 cents per share a year ago. Sales in the quarter were $85 million, a 29 percent increase over the same quarter last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 11 cents per share.

“We are very pleased with our third quarter results, which marks the fourth consecutive quarter as a publicly traded company that we have exceeded our expectations in terms of billings, revenue and profitability,” said Fortinet’s chief financial officer, Ken Goldman in a statement.

Shares of Fortinet, Inc. are up more than 97 percent over the past three months.

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Posted in Technology Stocks | No Comments »

Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AVNR) – After-hours Buzz Stock of the Day

Friday, October 29th, 2010

Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVNR) were up more than 15 percent in after-hours trading on Friday after it was reported on TheStreet.com that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Avanir’s Nuedexta for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect.

Pseudobulbar affect (PBA), sometimes called emotional incontinence refers to a neurologic disorder characterized by involuntary crying or uncontrollable episodes of crying and/or laughing, or other emotional displays. Prevalence estimates place the number of people with PBA between 1.5 million and 2 million in the United States alone. However, given the fact that PBA is a relatively common disorder among patients with various neurologic conditions, its actual prevalence may be higher.
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Carol Werther of SummerStreet Research Partners, an independent healthcare research firm, predicted the approval in an Oct. 15 note to clients.

“We expect a label to treat the signs and symptoms of PBA with warnings not to use with drugs that increase QTc wave prolongation,” the note stated. “Data from the advanced cardiac safety study (ACSS) indicates that AVP-923, even using a 10mg dose of quinidine, still prolongs the QTc (mean of 8.9 ms), just above the level the FDA considers no risk for Torsades de Pointes. (5 msec). Nevertheless, we do not think this will stop approval as many marketed drugs have similar profiles. AVNR submitted a risk map program to prevent abuse of AVP-923.”

Nuedexta, formerly known as AVP-923 and the trade name Zenvia™, is a combination of two well-characterized compounds, the active ingredient dextromethorphan, and the enzyme inhibitor quinidine, which serves to increase the bioavailability of dextromethorphan. Avanir is developing Nuedexta for use in PBA and diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain.

“The FDA approval of NUEDEXTA marks an important milestone for people living with PBA, an under-recognized and debilitating neurologic condition,” said Keith Katkin, president and chief executive officer of Avanir in a statement. “The approval of NUEDEXTA also marks AVANIR’s transition toward becoming a commercial enterprise, ready to support the successful launch of the first FDA-approved treatment for PBA. We expect that NUEDEXTA will be available by prescription during the first quarter of 2011.”

Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals are down about 13 percent in the past three months.

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MIPS, APPY, RFMD, SHMN – Buzz Stocks With Big Gains This Week

Friday, October 29th, 2010

Several of this week’s Buzz Stocks have had a string of days with solid gains:

MIPS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS) – Shares of MIPS Technologies increased almost 24 percent from Monday’s closing price in morning trading on Tuesday after the chip maker announced first quarter profit of $7.6 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with $595,000, or a penny per share, a year earlier. Shares closed on Tuesday at $14.12, after rallying as high as $14.18. The next day, shares spiked to $14.65, before closing at $14.34. Shares of MIPS Technologies have are up about 40 percent since Monday.

AspenBio Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: APPY) – Shares of diagnostic products maker, AspenBio Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: APPY) were up as much as 71 percent from Monday’s closing price, in morning trading on Tuesday after the company announced that it initiated manufacturing on its AppyScore™ cassette-based test system, and added personnel to handle its clinical, regulatory and commercial planning efforts. Shares traded as high as 98 cents, before closing at 71 cents on Tuesday. Shares traded between 80 cents 61 cents on Wednesday and Thursday, and were trading at 69 cents in mid-day trading on Friday. Shares of AspenBio Pharma, Inc. are up about 86 percent since Monday.

RF Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: RFMD) – Shares of RFMD were up 13 percent in morning trading on Wednesday after the company posted revenue of $285.8 million, and EPS of 19 cents for its fiscal second quarter ended October 2. Analysts on average expected EPS of 16 cents, on revenue of $275.9 million. Since then, shares have continually moved higher, trading as high as $7.45 on Thursday. At mid-day Friday, shares of RFMD were trading at $7.39, up about 11 percent since Monday.

SOHM, Inc. (Pink Sheets: SHMN) – The generic drug maker had several news releases this week announcing its intent to capitalize on the market opportunity in India for the company’s products. On Thursday,SOHM announced the addition of six new generic pharmaceutical products targeting asthma and respiratory disease. Shares of SOHM rallied as high as 9 cents on Thursday, before closing at 6 cents per share. Trading volume on Thursday was 10.5 million shares, a significant increase over SOHM’s average three-month trading volume of 165,398 shares. Shares of SHMN are up approximately 60 percent since Monday.

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Posted in Consumer Discretionary Stocks, Consumer Staples Stocks, Health Care Stocks, Penny Stocks, Technology Stocks | No Comments »

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (DECK) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Friday, October 29th, 2010

Shares of shoemaker Deckers Outdoor Corp. (Nasdaq: DECK) soared as much as 9 percent from Thursday’s closing price, in morning trading on Friday after the company reported strong third quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations.

“The strong performance of our new fall lines helped fuel sales gains across each of our distribution channels and geographic regions compared to the third quarter of last year,” said Deckers’ Chairman and CEO, Angel Martinez in a statement. “We continue to successfully expand the UGG brand’s market share by developing more compelling products including boots, casuals and sneakers that target a wider consumer audience. The global response to our fall collection has been very encouraging, with sell-through rates accelerating as we’ve moved into the fourth quarter. At the same time, the strong momentum the Teva brand experienced during the first half of the year is carrying over into the second half. This was driven by increased shipments of our fall collection, led by an expanded offering of closed toe products coupled with strong in-season demand for our sandal assortment. We are encouraged by the current trends in our business and believe we are well positioned for a very good holiday selling season.”
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Deckers earned $42.1 million, or $1.07 per share in the third quarter ended September 30, 2010, largely driven by improved sales of its UGG boots and Teva sandals. Analysts were expecting earnings of 93 cents per share. Quarterly revenue increased to $277.9 million, from $228.4 million, a year earlier.

Sales of the company’s UGG boots increased 20.2 percent to $255.8 million, and sales of its Teva sandals increased to $13.7 million, up 51.7 percent from $9 million a year ago.

Deckers also raised its full-year revenue outlook to a 16 percent improvement over 2009 levels, up from previous guidance of 14 percent. The company also expects its full year EPS to increase 22 percent over 2009, compared to previous earnings guidance of 16 percent, over last year.

Shares of Deckers Outdoor Corp. are up approximately 13 percent over the past three months.

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Posted in Consumer Staples Stocks | No Comments »

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