Tag - CATS

Small-cap stocks generated another solid rally Thursday, boosted by decent earnings from key bellwether stocks and a downward spiral in crude oil prices. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 9.88, or 1.44%, at 696.63.

For the second consecutive session, investors were willing to dip their toes back into what had been chilly water surrounding the financial arena. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund rose 5.3% and pushed through the 20-day moving average for the first time since mid-May. Within the financial sphere, JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) was the big catalyst for the bulls today, jumping 10% after reporting solid quarterly earnings that topped the forecast. Once again, embattled government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) produced a stout rally, which calmed investor fears about the banking system and lent a supportive tone as well.

Crude oil prices tanked again today, crumbling some $5 dollars a barrel to slip through $130 dollars as options expirations heightened a selling mentality that was already in play amid concerns about softer demand from the higher price structure. Lower energy costs would be a welcome sign not only to consumers already pinched from higher food and gasoline prices, but also from many businesses that have seen margins sliced away by higher input fuel costs. Elsewhere on the commodities inflation front, soybeans, corn, wheat, sugar and cocoa all were sharply lower, and the iPath GSCI Total Return commodities index tumbled 3.0%.

While JP Morgan’s strong results appeared to be a driving force behind today’s stock market rally, there was a raft of big name companies that had surprisingly stout quarterly earnings on display. For example, United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), the world’s largest maker of elevators and air conditioners, climbed a cool 5.8% after beating the Street’s forecast. Within the capital-goods industry, UTX . . .

After opening higher today, small-cap stocks were mostly higher at mid-session, in part due to better-than expected earnings reports from large caps. Many key players reported weak outlooks, though, that put pressure on small caps. Strong economic data kept investors cautiously optimistic that the U.S. economy could start to crawl out of the red.

At 1:06 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 0.07, or 0.01%, at 686.82.

With earnings season well underway, large-cap stocks were driving the market — though not altogether forward. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reported earnings that beat estimates by more than 22%. By market value, JPMorgan is the largest U.S. bank. JPMorgan’s jump helped continue the rally of financial stocks after days of bleak news about the U.S. banking industry. On Wednesday Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) announced an increase of 10% in its dividend after posting solid results.

On the downside, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) dropped 4% on below-average volume after reporting its second-quarter profits had dropped 23% from a year ago. The beverage retailer said its weak earnings were due to lowered soda demand from U.S. customers. News of the weak earnings dragged down shares of consumer goods. Internet retailer eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) also tumbled 14% after giving an unimpressive outlook.

Government reports showed weekly jobless claims rose to 366,000 this week, a figure that was well below expectations for a jump to 380,000. Housing starts rose 9.1% while analysts had been expecting a drop of 1.5%. Despite this, single-family home construction sunk 5.3% in June to a 17-year low while construction of multi-family homes skyrocketed 42.5% from the same month a year ago.

For the first time in days, the U.S. Federal Reserve and crude oil prices weren’t in the spotlight. Crude oil was lower overnight and was down at mid-session to $133.87 per barrel, a far cry from the records highs over $147 seen earlier this . . .

Catalyst Semiconductor Inc (Nasdaq:CATS), MGIC Investment Corp (Nasdaq:MTG) and Cheviot Financial Corp (Nasdaq:CHEV) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Gencor Industries Inc (Nasdaq:GENC), Provident Bankshares Corp (Nasdaq:PBKS), Atlantic Coast Federal Corp (Nasdaq:ACFC), USA Truck Inc (Nasdaq:USAK), Pzena Investment Management Inc (Nasdaq:PZN) and HNI Corp (Nasdaq:HNI).

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, lifted by solid earnings results from key names in the large-cap arena, which spilled over into the overall market psyche. In addition, economic reports have been a mild upside surprise this morning and stock markets overseas were higher overnight, which helped set up a platform to extend Wednesday’s big rally. At 10:03 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 3.35, or 0.49%, at 690.10.

In overseas trading, European shares were up about 2%, Japan was up 1%, Hong Kong rallied 2.4%, Taiwan surged 3.9%, India was up 4.2%, South Korea up 1.2%, Singapore up 1% and Australia up 0.6%.

Crude oil futures drifted higher after the stock market open, which drained away some of the morning gains in equities. Crude oil prices were lower overnight, and are down some $10 dollars a barrel off the recent highs, but traders remain sensitive to the volatile nature of energy markets, especially when recent declines have been short-lived.

Headline figures from economic data this morning have been much improved over the sobering inflation reports seen Tuesday and Wednesday. Weekly claims rose to 366,000 this week, but were below expectations for a rise to 380,000. Also, housing starts jumped 9.1%, which was far better than the forecast for a 1.5% dip. However, the housing starts report was boosted by data quirk adjustments and it will take more evidence in future reports to suggest that the housing market is anywhere near the recovery road.

The final piece of today’s data puzzle came in at 10:00 a.m. ET, with the July Philly Fed Survey, which came in softer than expected at minus 16.3 and appeared to pull stock index products off the morning highs.

The market is now deep into Q2 earnings season, and some of the “big” . . .

Catalyst Semiconductor Inc. (Nasdaq:CATS) is soaring 54% in today’s trading after signing a definitive merger agreement with ON Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq:ONNN). The all-stock transaction will provide Catalyst shareholders with 0.706 shares of ON Semiconductor stock for each share of Catalyst they own. The overall deal is valued at about $115 million. The companies expect the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Catalyst is a Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor product maker, while ON Semiconductor is a Phoenix-based provider of power and data management semiconductors.

In today’s trading, Catalyst shares are at $6.21 at 9:58 a.m. ET, up $2.15 from Wednesday’s close. Trading volume is more than triple the average number of shares.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) sell-off continues as investors react to disappointing earnings news and a decline in consumer confidence.

At 12:39 p.m. ET, the small-cap index had shed 12.34 points, or 1.74%, to 695.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 180.43 points, or 1.43%, to 12,401.55.

The morning’s bearish sentiment has carried over into the afternoon on news before the opening that General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) saw its first-quarter earnings from continuing operations decline 8% to $0.44 per share from $0.48 per share a year earlier.

The Fairfield, Conn.-based company, considered a bellwether due to its size and reach, blamed the decline on the slowing U.S. economy.

Elsewhere, a report after the start of trading from the University of Michigan showed that consumer confidence fell more than expected in April. The result is the lowest in more than 20 years and a sign that the majority of Americans are pessimistic about their financial future.

Shares of Catalyst Semiconductor Inc. (Nasdaq: CATS) have dropped despite news after the close on Thursday that the manufacturer of semiconductors and non-volatile memory products reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat expectations.

Net income for the three months ended Oct. 28 was 1.3 million, or $0.07 per share, more than double the profit of $0.64 million, or $0.04 per share, a year earlier. Two analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for earnings of $0.06 per share.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company saw its revenues rise 27% to $20.7 million from $16.3 million during the second quarter of fiscal 2006.

The increase was attributed primarily to higher sales of analog/mixed signal products and manufacturing efficiencies. Revenue from the sales of analog and mixed signal products grew more than 40% for the third consecutive quarter.

“We are pleased to see the continued traction gained by our mixed signal business, which came on top of 41% growth in the first quarter of 2008 and 44% in the fourth quarter of 2007,” said president and CEO Gelu Voicu in a statement.

At 3:36 p.m. ET, shares of Catalyst Semiconductor (CATS) had retreated $0.61, or 10%, to $5.28. The 52-week low of $3 was set on Feb. 2, while the 52-week high of $7.92 was reached on Oct. 9.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) is rising despite investors’ fears of a U.S. economic slowdown.

At 10:30 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had added 1.17 points, or 0.15%, to 799.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was off 36.90 points, or 0.27%, to 13,485.12.

Small futures were down and stocks across the board fell this morning as investors reacted to concerns of a slowing United States economy.

News of an economic slowdown is a major cause of the generally bearish mood this morning, with finance ministers and central bankers from the G7, the world’s top seven industrialized countries, saying over the weekend that U.S. economic growth is in for a slowdown due to tighter credit, the housing slump and the high price of oil.

Small and big caps fell hard on Friday after corporate heavyweights missed earnings expectations, spreading fears about the negative effects of the meltdown in the subprime mortgage sector and the stagnation in the U.S housing sector.

Thus far this morning small caps are faring better than their bigger brothers, with the Russell 2000 index managing to rise above the flat line shortly after 10 a.m. ET.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 2.2%, while London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.5%.

Here are the current biggest percentage gainers and losers among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Radiation Therapy Services Inc. (RTSX), up 43% on news it is being purchased by a private equity firm.
• RadiSys Corp. (RSYS), up 16% on news of an analyst upgrade.
• Cirrus Logic Inc. (CRUS), up 7%.

Biggest percentage losers:

• Catalyst Semiconductor Inc. (CATS), down 14%. An analyst contacted for comment did not have an explanation for the stocks’ movement.
• Silicom Ltd. (SILC), down 16%.
• United PanAm Financial Corp. (UPFC), down 11% on news of a decline in third-quarter profit.

Shares of Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. (Nasdaq: CATS) are trading higher after the supplier of analog, mixed-signal and non-volatile memory semiconductors reported late Thursday that it swung to a profit in its fiscal first quarter. Catalyst also reported that it has signed a global distribution agreement with electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corp.

For the three months ended July 29, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company swung to a profit of $0.04 per share, compared with a loss of $0.02 per share a year earlier. Results came in above analyst’s expectations for a profit of $0.01.

The company also signed a global distribution agreement under which Digi-Key will offer Catalyst's analog, mixed signal and non-volatile memory products. Some of Catalyst's products Digi-Key will offer include Quad-Mode LED drivers, which provide 10% higher efficiency and up to 65% smaller packaging compared with competitive LED drivers. 

“We think it’s a nice opportunity because they’re getting into analog mixed signals and Digi-Key will be a key distributor for them as well as a ‘go to’ for design engineering,” said C.E. Unterberg Towbin analyst John Vinh. “It’s a timely agreement as Catalyst’s revenues are starting to ramp rapidly.”

Catalyst recorded strong revenues for its fiscal 2008 first quarter of $19.9 million, compared with $15.2 million in the same period last year. Revenues exceeded Vinh’s estimate of $18.8 million, and were above the Street’s $18.9 million.

Shares of Catalyst Semiconductor Inc. (Nasdaq: CATS) slipped into negative territory following news the Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of analog/mixed-signal and memory products lost money in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.

The net loss for the quarter ended April 29 was $0.46 million, or $0.03 per share, compared with a net income of $0.27 million, or $0.02 per share, in the same quarter of fiscal 2006, the company said after Thursday’s close. Wall Street had projected earnings of $0.01 per share.