Tag - Atmi

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).

RC2 Corp. (Nasdaq:RCRC), Zep Inc. (Nasdaq:ZEP) and Alkermes Inc. (Nasdaq:ALKS) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Heritage Crystal Clean Inc. (Nasdaq:HCCI), A. Schulman Inc. (Nasdaq:SHLM), ATMI Inc. (Nasdaq:ATMI), Diodes Inc. (Nasdaq:DIOD), AZZ Inc. (Nasdaq:AZZ) and DealerTrack Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:TRAK).

DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS), Omnicell Inc. (Nasdaq:OMCL) and Semtech Corp. (Nasdaq:SMTC) are among the most actively traded companies in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Ciena Corp. (Nasdaq:CIEN), Wind River Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:WIND), Fossil Inc. (Nasdaq:FOSL), Otter Tail Corp (Nasdaq:OTTR), ATMI Inc. (Nasdaq:ATMI) and EarthLink Inc. (Nasdaq:ELNK).

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co Inc. (Nasdaq:GAP), Britannia Bulk Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:DWT) and Gabelli Gl Gld NR & Inc. (Nasdaq:GGN) are among the  among 52-week lows in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Hecla Mining Co. (Nasdaq:HL), Cascal NV. (Nasdaq:HOO), Templeton Russia & East European Fund Inc. (Nasdaq:TRF), ATMI Inc. (Nasdaq:ATMI), Synthesis Energy Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:SYMX) and Teekay LNG Partners LP. (Nasdaq:TGP).

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

Maguire Properties Inc (Nasdaq:MPG), First Horizon National Corp (Nasdaq:FHN) and United Security Bancshares (AL) (Nasdaq:USBI) are among the new 52-week lows in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Superior Bancorp (Nasdaq:SUPR), Anaren Inc (Nasdaq:ANEN), AMERICAN RIVER Bankshares (Nasdaq:AMRB), ATMI Inc (Nasdaq:ATMI), Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc (Nasdaq:SHO) and CoBiz Financial Inc (Nasdaq:COBZ).

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

First Horizon National Corp (Nasdaq:FHN), ATMI Inc (Nasdaq:ATMI) and Endwave Corp (Nasdaq:ENWV) are among the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: American Independence Corp (Nasdaq:AMIC), Maguire Properties Inc (Nasdaq:MPG), FCStone Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCSX), Anaren Inc (Nasdaq:ANEN), Pyramid Oil Co (Nasdaq:PDO) and DineEquity Inc (Nasdaq:DIN).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

ATMI Inc. (Nasdaq:ATMI) is trading 17% lower today after the company’s ahead-of-the-opening announcement it was lowering its 2008 guidance and that it had settled a patent suit with Praxair Inc. (NYSE:PX). ATMI now expects earnings per share of $1.25 to $1.40 for 2008, down from previous estimates of $1.32 to $1.48 a share. Full-year revenues should be about $375 million to $400 million, compared with prior estimates of $400 million to $420 million. The company said it was lowering its guidance because of product shipment delays and slow sales growth.

ATMI’s guidance drop comes on the heels of a settlement with Praxair on a 2003 patent infringement case. According to the settlement, the companies can market and sell their mechanical, sub-atmospheric delivery containers – the products at the core of the case. ATMI provides materials to semiconductor producers while Praxair is an industrial gas supplier.

In today’s trading, shares of ATMI are at $22.62 at 9:47 a.m. ET, down $4.70 from Friday’s close.

Silicon may be the compound that made electronics famous, but the rising star on the scene is sapphire and Rubicon Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: RBCN) is the new leading light. Founded in 2000 and public only since Nov. 20, this Franklin Park, Ill.-based small cap is in the interesting business of growing sapphires for electronic and electro-optical circuits.

Sapphire has some great qualities that can be used in conjunction with silicon circuitry. A pure sapphire is crystal clear, made from aluminum oxide. It can be grown and cut into wafers, much the way silicon wafers are made, and has different chemical, electrical and physical properties when cut in different orientations. In different configurations, the wafers are used to make light-emitting diodes (LEDs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and blue laser diodes. Silicon circuitry can be laid on top of sapphire wafers (silicon-on-sapphire, or SOS) for electro-optical chips.

The Russian government began developing techniques years ago for growing sapphire crystals to use in military and aerospace applications. Rubicon, whose chief scientist is Russian, has refined those techniques into a proprietary process that allows it to create the largest and purest sapphire wafers on the market.

Rubicon can make crystals with fewer than 100 defects per square centimeter, compared to defect rates of 5,000 to 100,000 defects per centimeter with other manufacturing methods. It is the only manufacturer that can reliably make six-inch diameter wafers, while others are still stuck at two inches and four inches, and is expected to start producing eight-inch wafers within 18 months. Just as in silicon wafers, the larger sizes sell at higher margins but reduce the final chip costs dramatically.