Tag - Cnxt

Small-cap stocks opened lower Friday, pulled down by lingering worries about the economy, a dip in stock markets around the world overnight and a renewed safe-haven mentality ahead of the weekend. Today’s small-cap gainers are Retalix Ltd. (Nasdaq:RTLX), Powerwave Technologies (Nasdaq:PWAV) and DivX (Nasdaq:DIVX).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Crude oil prices were slumping today, down about $2 a barrel amid a resurgent U.S. dollar overnight.  
• Today’s trading will not only close the books on a dreadful month for the stock
market, but also represents the final week of trading before voters decide on a new president next week.
• The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was down 2.7%, which reflects strong demand for Treasury notes as the yield moves inverse to price.  
• As the stock market lurched toward the end of a historic month investors seemed reluctant to extend a 3-day buying spree in small caps and money was moving back into Treasury markets.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Retalix Ltd. jumped 31% as the software provider for food distributors and retailers gapped higher on the open. See (Nasdaq:RTLX).
• Powerwave Technologies Up 11% in after-hours; Q3 results beat estimates by $0.03. See (Nasdaq:PWAV).  
• DivX Q3 results top expectations, guides in line to above Street. DivX shares were up 8% overnight. See (Nasdaq:DIVX).  
• Air T boosted 5% in pre-market trading; Q2 results up sharply pver year-ago levels See (Nasdaq:AIRT).


Small Cap Losers:

• Bare Excentuals Inc. gapped lower and shed some 38% on soft earnings news. See (Nasdaq:BARE).  
• Penson Worldwide Inc. is down 32% on news that a subsidiary has incurred a $15.5M unsecured receivable from a firm that has ceased operations.
See (Nasdaq:PNSN).  
• Conexant Systems seats With Q4, guides below Street. Shares down 16% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:CNXT).  
• Morningstar shares nearly 5% lower in after hours after Q3 results miss estimates. See (Nasdaq:MORN).

“Many technology stocks have been in the doldrums for some time,” says George Putnam, publisher of The Turnaround Letter. As a result, he says, the makers of semiconductors, which are at the heart of most technology products, have been suffering as well.
 
“But the semiconductor stocks are notoriously cyclical, and when they come back, they could rebound with a vengeance,” say Putnam, a long-standing expert in distressed stocks and turnaround situations.

In this newsletter watch, the turnaround specialist looks at the semis, offering several low-priced, small-cap turnaround speculations. Readers should be mindful that as low-priced, small-cap turnarounds, these are high-risk situations and the usual caveats should be considered.
 
“There are signs that a rebound in semiconductors may be just beginning,” he says, pointing to Intel, which he calls the 600-pound gorilla of the group, as recently reporting improved results.
 
“The industry has suffered from a glut of older, lower-margin products, but that glut is finally being worked off. Moreover, new applications ranging from high definition television to a new generation of smart phones are creating demand for new, higher margin chips,” Putnam says. And while the stocks of some of the bigger players, like Intel, have already begun to trend upward, he says that a number of other semiconductor stocks are still trading at or near multi-year lows.
 
Conexant Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNXT), he says, is a leading provider of semiconductor technology targeting all avenues of broadband communications, from DSL chipsets and digital set-top boxes to home-networking processors and game consoles. 

Shares of San Antonio-based MDI, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDII) are falling despite news after Thursday’s close that the security technology solutions company has received the first of several purchase orders from a U.S. naval support center located in Europe.  Shares are down $0.33, or 17.56%, to $1.55.