Tag - RAX

Vocus Inc. (Nasdaq:VOCS), Savannah Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:SAVB), and Triangle Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:TCAP), are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: ATMI Inc. (Nasdaq:ATMI), Infinera Corp. (Nasdaq:INFN), Phase Forward Inc. (Nasdaq:PFWD), Prospect Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:PSEC) and Rackspace Hosting Inc. (Nasdaq:RAX).

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (Nasdaq:RAX), Savannah Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:SAVB) and Federal Mogul Corp. (Nasdaq:FDML) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: CryptoLogic Ltd. (Nasdaq:CRYP), Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (Nasdaq:EBS), hhgregg Inc. (Nasdaq:HGG), Perfect World Co Ltd. (Nasdaq:PWRD), Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:OPY) and Medallion Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:TAXI).

Small-cap stocks pushed lower, pressured by concerns about corporate profits, worries about late holiday spending results and ongoing jitters about the economy and the credit crisis. Losses were limited by optimism about stimulus plans for 2009 and persistent bargain hunting from market watchers who believe the bottom has already been made.  Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Fuel Systems Solutions (Nasdaq:FSYS), American Capital Agency (Nasdaq:AGNC) and Flow International (Nasdaq:FLOW).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

•Even though chipmakers were higher in European trading, tech stocks were underperforming both the Dow and small caps.  
• Citigroup analysts said that they remain underweight on utilities, autos and real estate investment trusts.
• The greenback remained down against the euro, which could underpin various commodity markets today.  
• Copper prices rose 4% in London trading, bolstered by a dip in the U.S. dollar vs. the euro & by news of a jump in China imports during November.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Fuel Systems Solutions up 5.13% in pre-market after analysts initiate coverage on Friday of the small cap with a "buy." See (Nasdaq:FSYS).  
• American Capital Agency up 3% in pre-market after declaring a $1.20 Q4 dividend. See (Nasdaq:AGNC). 
• Flow International 2% higher today after an analyst last week upgraded the small cap from "buy" to "strong buy," citing new 10Q financial reports. See (Nasdaq:FLOW).  
• Rackspace Hosting Inc. opened higher on light volume after taking a big hit Friday. See (NYSE:RAX).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Grey Wolf Inc. gapped lower and tumbled 40% to 52-week lows. See (NYSE:GW).  
• Brown Shoe Company Inc. fell 10%, giving part of a huge rally from Friday. See (NYSE:BWS). 
• Accuray down 7% after swinging to a Q1 loss on Friday. See (Nasdaq:ARAY).
• Ruby Tuesday announces multiple store closures and $70 million anticipated loss in 2009; shares dip 4.4%. See (NYSE:RT).  

Small-cap stocks pushed lower, pressured by concerns about corporate profits, worries about late holiday spending results and ongoing jitters about the economy and the credit crisis. Losses were limited by optimism about stimulus plans for 2009 and persistent bargain hunting from market watchers who believe the bottom has already been made. At 9:54 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 6.42, or 1.32%, at 479.84.

Some early enthusiasm was tied to news that President-elect Obama will ramp up the job-creation goal of his stimulus package to 3 million new jobs from 2.5 million. The market is already hoping that Obama’s stimulus plans will help spark an economic recovery as 2009 progresses.

Walgreens (NYSE:WAG) posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit and announced plans to trim new store opening goals. WAG shares were off 4.1% shortly after the opening. It’s still early to get a good picture for shopping results in the United States over this past weekend, but with winter storms in the Midwest and Northeast, it might be difficult for retailers to come up with great results. Early this morning, the S&P Retail Index was down 0.5%.

Crude oil prices were choppy into the stock market open, but copper prices rose 4% in London trading, bolstered by a dip in the U.S. dollar against the euro and by news of a big jump in China imports during November. The greenback remained down against the euro, which could underpin various commodity markets today.

Citigroup analysts said that they remain underweight on utilities, autos and real estate investment trusts. Carmakers were a source of weakness for overseas markets . . .

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. (Nasdaq:AGM), PharmaNet Development Group Inc. (Nasdaq:PDGI) and Maxxam Inc. (Nasdaq:MXM) are among the new 52-week lows in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (Nasdaq:CMG), Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co Inc. (Nasdaq:GAP), Rackspace Hosting Inc. (Nasdaq:RAX), Diodes Inc. (Nasdaq:DIOD), Beverly National Corp. (Nasdaq:BNV) and Teekay Offshore Partners (Nasdaq:TOO).

Here are the new 52-week lows among small caps:

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX), which has been in business since 1998, operates six data centers in the United States and two in the United Kingdom. Each is a warehouse filled with servers that host websites, hold application software, and store data. Rackspace also provides redundant systems, high security, and 24-hour support in order to ensure that customer’s websites and IT networks stay up and running. Some customers own their servers and handle the maintenance themselves; others lease servers from Rackspace and use their technicians for support. Either way, the company brought in $362.0 million in revenue in 2007, an increase of 61.64% from 2006. Some of that was due to acquisition, though.

The company is profitable, although profit growth is less steady than revenue growth. In 2007, the company posted net income of $17.8 million, down from the $19.8 million recorded in 2006. Rackspace broke even in 2003 and has been profitable ever since. One factor in projecting profitability is that the business is capital intensive. It requires ongoing investments in technology and infrastructure. Even though the company leases its data centers, it still has to do extensive remodeling and upkeep to make them suitable for storing servers. The company benefits from scale economies until it reaches the point where it has to build out more space or invest in more equipment. Then, the economies reset. In 2007, the company spent $105.4 million on property and equipment.