Tag - DWCH

Shares of Datawatch Corp. (Nasdaq: DWCH) are plunging this morning after the enterprise information management company reported first fiscal-quarter earnings below the estimate of a sole analyst on Wall Street.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2007, the Chelmsford, Mass.-based company recorded net income of $247,000, or $0.04 per diluted share, below the $0.10 per share Taglich Brothers analyst Howard Halpern was forecasting. The current quarter’s bottom-line compares with net income of $34,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2006.

Revenues were $6.08 million, slightly below the $6.64 million Halpern was projecting. Revenues for the current quarter climbed 5% when compared to $5.78 million, for the same quarter in 2006.

Datawatch attributed its top-line results to the release of its Monarch Version 9, German edition, recognition of maintenance revenue from its acquisition of Radiant Document Solutions Group from Clearstory Systems, Inc. in May 2006 as well as a strong services quarter.

The company said it also closed two significant Monarch Report Mining Server (RMS) opportunities in the banking industry and signed partnerships with several new Hyland Software OnBase and IBM Content Manager OnDemand partners for Monarch RMS.

Shares of Datawatch (DWCH) tumbled 34.72%, or $2.50, to $4.70 at 9:58 a.m. ET. Shares of Datawatch have been trading in the range of $ 2.63 and $8 for the past 52 weeks.

AspenBio Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: APPY), Datawatch Corp. (Nasdaq: DWCH) and WCA Waste Corp. (Nasdaq: WCAA) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage gainers:

Enterprise information management firm Datawatch Corp. (Nasdaq: DWCH), reported this morning that it swung to a profit in its fourth quarter and beat a sole analyst’s estimates.

For three months ended Sept. 30, the Chelmsford, Mass.-based firm recorded net income of $0.83 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $0.53 million, or $0.10 per share. Earnings were well above the $0.06 an analyst polled by Thomson was forecasting.

Revenues were $6.85 million, above the $6.16 million an analyst polled by Thomson was projecting. The current quarter’s revenue also represented a 29% increase over the $5.33 million earned in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Shares of Datawatch (DWCH)  jumped 27.5%, or $1.32, to $6.12 ahead of the opening. Shares of Datawatch have been trading in the range of $1.60 to $6.39 for the past 52 weeks.

Two strategies for making a profit on stocks: 1) buy a deeply discounted stock and hope for a rebound, and 2) pick a stock at or near its highs, in the belief that if things are good now, they can only get better.

The two business software makers profiled here fall squarely under that second investment strategy. Their stocks have already enjoyed a good run, but demand for their products is still gaining momentum, suggesting they have further to go before they peak.

When it comes to business, or enterprise software, there are the very largest companies like International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) or SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), and there are a host of smaller firms that make add-on products designed to help companies further organize their data. These products generally help businesses sort data into more understandable formats like brief summaries, charts or graphs. They often add analytic features for better understanding the data and additional services for retrieving it and sharing it securely.

The more material that companies store, the more challenged they are to organize all of it, which is why software makers like DataWatch Corp. (Nasdaq: DWCH) and Actuate Corp. (Nasdaq: ACTU) have generated so much investor interest. The proliferation of cheap storage technology means that most companies are swimming in data. Imagine trying to retrieve some basic company statistics from a roomful of old metal filing cabinets jammed with paper, and you get some sense of the challenge of organizing electronic files.

American Technical Ceramics Corp. (AMEX: AMK) reported it agreed to be acquired by AVX Corp. (NYSE: AVX) for $24.75 per share, or about $231 million in cash, which represents a 47% premium to Friday’s closing price.

Vical Inc. (Nasdaq: VICL) said a trial of its gene-delivery technology reported positive results.

LMI Aerospace, Inc. (Nasdaq: LMIA) reported it plans to buy engineering services company D3 Technologies for $65 million in cash.

These are the biggest percentage gainers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million:

The Russell 2000 is in the red while the Dow is looking to yet another record close following news of mixed economic data and a lower-than-expected rise in construction spending.  Among small caps, news of a restructuring plan is hurting shares of Delta Galil Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: DELT), while strong quarterly results lifted Datawatch Corporation (Nasdaq: DWCH).

At 11:57 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 had lost 2.15 points, or 0.26 percent, to 827.55.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 11.70 points, or 0.09 percent, to 13,132.64.  That’s above Friday’s record close of 13.120.94.

These are the biggest percentage gainers at 1005 ET among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million: