Tag - NASDAQGS:PETS

Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:OREX), Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:SPPI) and PetMed Express Inc. (Nasdaq:PETS) are among the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Infinera Corp. (Nasdaq:INFN), CardioNet Inc. (Nasdaq:BEAT), ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CKSW), China Housing & Land Development Inc. (Nasdaq:CHLN), Fuqi International Inc. (Nasdaq:FUQI) and BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. (Nasdaq:BDSI).

D&E Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:DECC), Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc.(Nasdaq:TSPT) and Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:VNDA) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Tenneco Inc.(Nasdaq:TEN), PetMed Express Inc.(Nasdaq:PETS), Isle of Capri Casinos Inc.(Nasdaq:ISLE), Nicholas Financial Inc.(Nasdaq:NICK), Houston Wire & Cable Co.(Nasdaq:HWCC) and Willis Lease Finance Corp.(Nasdaq:WLFC).

Century Aluminum Co. (Nasdaq:CENX), Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (Nasdaq:ENER) and Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq:FSYS) are among the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Imperial Sugar Co. (Nasdaq:IPSU), Force Protection Inc. (Nasdaq:FRPT), Geron Corp. (Nasdaq:GERN), UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA), PetMed Express Inc. (Nasdaq:PETS) and Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:VNDA).

Palm Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM), DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS) and PetMed Express Inc. (Nasdaq:PETS) are among the most actively traded companies in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLE), Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), Elizabeth Arden Inc. (Nasdaq:RDEN), Cypress Bioscience Inc. (Nasdaq:CYPB), Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq:CSIQ) and A Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq:APWR).

DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS), TBS International Ltd. (Nasdaq:TBSI) and AsiaInfo Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:ASIA) are among the most actively traded companies in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Arkansas Best Corp. (Nasdaq:ABFS), YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:YRCW), Allos Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:ALTH), Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:QCOR), Almost Family Inc. (Nasdaq:AFAM) and PetMed Express Inc. (Nasdaq:PETS).

Transmeta Corp. (Nasdaq:TMTA), PetMed Express Inc. (Nasdaq:PETS) and Union Street Acquisition Units (Nasdaq:USQ.U) are among the new 52-week highs in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Talk about an industry with a thick, warm coat: the pet business is shaking off the chill of the economy as owners, er, guardians cut back on everything but their little rascals’ well-being. And that’s good news for PetMed Express, Inc. (Nasdaq:PETS), which mails health products directly to the doggy door.

Let your own teeth rot and your broken toes mend on their own. But get your baby (no, not that one, the furry one) those drops for fleas, medicine to stave off heartworm and vitamins so he can grow to be like Rin-Tin-Tin. Freshen his breath, perfume him and swab out his ears. Who cares if the market is at the end of its leash when you’ve got a bouncing bundle of joy at the end of yours?

These are the attitudes behind PetMed Express’s success. In its current fiscal 2009 second quarter through September, the Pompano Beach, Florida, company raised earnings per diluted share 33% to $0.25, from $0.18 in the same quarter the previous year. Net revenue in the period was $59.6 million, up from $51.5 million a year earlier, an increase of 16%. PetMed Express also repurchased about 90,000 shares of outstanding stock for $1.1 million in the second quarter.  

The leading pet pharmacy company is now focused on adding market share and improving reorders. Started in 1996, it delivers prescription and non-prescription pet medications and other health products for dogs, cats, and horses direct to buyers via an 800 number and through the Internet. 

The market is full of opportunity: The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association says spending in 2007 topped $41 billion, more than twice the $21 billion spent in 1996. For 2008, the association early this year projected the market at a record $43.4 billion. The pet medication market that PetMed Express competes in is estimated near $3.4 billion, with veterinarians holding the majority of market share. The dog and . . .

PetMed Express Inc (Nasdaq:PETS), Ness Technologies Inc (Nasdaq:NSTC) and American Commercial Lines Inc (Nasdaq:ACLI) are among the most actively traded companies in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Innophos Holdings Inc (Nasdaq:IPHS), Pharmasset Inc (Nasdaq:VRUS), Eresearchtechnology Inc (Nasdaq:ERES), Hansen Medical Inc (Nasdaq:HNSN), Finish Line Inc (Nasdaq:FINL) and STEC Inc (Nasdaq:STEC).

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices are deep in the red amidst recession fears and an interest rate cut.
 
At 10:19 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had fallen 8.88 points, or 1.32%, to 664.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was down 230.13 points, or 1.90%, to 11,869.17.

Stocks small and large are posting declines due to fears of a U.S. recession and sell-offs on some overseas exchanges.

Increased worries of an economic recession motivated the U.S. Federal Reserve to make an emergency cut in the federal funds rate to 3.50% from 4.25%.

The Fed has not moved to lower its target rate between meetings since September 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Its next regularly scheduled meeting is on Jan. 29 and 30.

“The Committee took this action in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing downside risks to growth,” the Fed said in a statement. “While strains in short-term funding markets have eased somewhat, broader financial market conditions have continued to deteriorate and credit has tightened further for some businesses and households.”

The Russell 2000 opened with a large drop, losing more than 3% right of the bat, with the Dow posting a slightly smaller loss. But stocks trimmed those numbers and the roles reversed, the Dow now posting a deeper decline.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures are falling and the small-cap index will open with a drop despite an interest rate cut.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has decided to lower the target for the federal funds rate to 3.50% from 4.25% to calm jittery financial markets and keep the economy from falling into a recession.

“The Committee took this action in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing downside risks to growth,” the Fed said in a statement. “While strains in short-term funding markets have eased somewhat, broader financial market conditions have continued to deteriorate and credit has tightened further for some businesses and households.”

The fact that the U.S. central bank has decided to lower the federal funds rate between its regularly scheduled meetings is a sign of the serious economic and financial problems we’re seeing.

The Fed has not moved to lower its target rate between meetings since September 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Its next regularly scheduled meeting is on Jan. 29 and 30.

Pet Pharmacy PetMed Express, Inc. (Nasdaq: PETS) this morning reported robust earnings for its second fiscal quarter, ahead of analysts’ estimates.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the Pompano Beach, Fla.-based firm recorded net income of $4.5 million, or $0.18 diluted per share, ahead of the consensus of six analysts polled by Thomson Financial of $0.16 per share. The current quarter’s bottom-line results represent a 37% increase over the second quarter of 2006 net income of $3.3 million, or $0.14 diluted per share.

Net sales increased 18% to $51.5 million, compared with $43.8 million for the second quarter last year. Five analysts polled by Thomson Financial were on average anticipating revenues of $51.09 million.

Shares of PetMed Express (PETS) were halted in pre-market trading.

A recent cover story on the “Pet Economy” in BusinessWeek reported that Americans spend some $41 billion a year on their pets – more than they spend on movies, video games, and recorded music combined. Nearly half of that, according to the magazine, goes for veterinary care and medication. Pet spending may rise to $52 billion annually in the next two years – an increase of nearly 27%.
 
Figures like these make the country’s largest pet pharmacy, PetMed Express Inc. (Nasdaq: PETS), worth a closer look. The Pompano, Fla.-based company sells discount medication by mail through its 1-800-PetMeds toll-free number, website and direct mail campaigns.

Here are four reasons you should consider PetMed Express:

• It is the largest pet pharmacy and only significant discount mail-order pet pharmacy as the pet business registers double-digit growth rates.
• It has managed to source its product as it maintains an uneasy relationship with its main competitor – the fragmented veterinary practice market.
• It is recording significant internal growth in sales and profit as it increases advertising efficiency, adds new clients, boosts reorders, and upgrades service and IT.
• It has no debt and a huge cash reserve it is using to buy back its own stock.

While it seems like a surefire idea given the burgeoning pet economy, PetMed has actually had a tough time because it undercuts veterinarian sales of drugs, an important source of income for pet doctor practices. For a while, veterinarians refused to write prescriptions for the mail-order pharmacy and the company ran afoul of authorities for having alternative vets online write prescriptions without examining the pet (something not unheard of in human medication). Some of the bigger drug companies even refuse to sell directly to PetMed to avoid alienating vets, who account for a good two-thirds of pet drug sales. However, PetMed has managed to source its products through wholesalers.

NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: NCST), Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPPI) and Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALM) were among the most actively traded companies in Monday pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:

We love our animals, be they dogs, cats, gerbils, iguanas, snakes or horses. But when they get sick, the owners are often facing an expensive proposition to make them well, especially if a chronic condition requiring regular medication sets in.

Industry studies have indicated that Americans spent more than $38 billion in 2006 on their pets, up 35% from 2001. While most of that goes to keeping them happy, a growing amount is being spent on keeping them healthy. 

A little more than a decade ago, the co-founders of what became PetMed Express Inc.(Nasdaq: PETS) established the company as a way for consumers to take advantage of a mail-order prescription service. The company offered economies of scale while providing customers the same drugs that they could get through their local veterinarian for their dogs, cats and horses.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Pompano Beach, Fla., company – better known as 1-800-PETMEDS from its TV commercials and website – met with resistance from the veterinary community and drugmakers. The situation was similar to that originally faced on the human side of the prescription medication business, when mail-order and then Internet ordering began coming into vogue.

Let’s not pussyfoot around: The company, which bills itself as America’s largest pet pharmacy, has had some rocky periods. So are investors barking up the wrong tree on buying this stock?

After reporting strong fiscal-year and fourth-quarter results on May 14, shares jumped 13%. A quarter earlier, when turning in disappointing results of flat profits and rising costs, investors acted like they had swallowed a hairball and coughed up shares by about the same amount.

The following were the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:

The following are the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:

These are the biggest percentage gainers among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million: