Tag - Rlrn

All good things come to an end, and the curtain came down on a three-day run-up in small-cap stocks on Tuesday.

The Russell 2000 Index fell for the first time since August 10, after the index had rebounded from the recent sell-offs by nearly 9 percent.

Yet there were some rising stars to be found across many sectors, including old-line and high-tech manufacturing, biotechs and software developers and a couple of acquisitions.

Schawk Inc. (Nasdaq:SGK), Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. (Nasdaq:MRX) and Cardiovascular Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSII) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Michael Baker Corp. (Nasdaq:BKR), Renaissance Learning Inc. (Nasdaq:RLRN), First United Corp Maryland (Nasdaq:FUNC), Norwood Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:NWFL), Gencor Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:GENC) and Sigma Designs Inc. (Nasdaq:SIGM).

Targanta Therapeutics Corp. (Nasdaq:TARG), Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq:ALDN) and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:RJET) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (Nasdaq:JTX), CPI International Inc. (Nasdaq:CPII), Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:PGC), Renaissance Learning Inc. (Nasdaq:RLRN), Northrim BanCorp Inc. (Nasdaq:NRIM) and Zygo Corp. (Nasdaq:ZIGO).

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

Tortoise Energy Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:TYY), Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. (Nasdaq:TYG) and NL Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:NL) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Liberty Media Corp. (Nasdaq:LCAPA), Hungarian Telephone and Cable Corp. (Nasdaq:HTC), Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:CCO), Renaissance Learning Inc. (Nasdaq:RLRN) and Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (Nasdaq:HLX).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Excel Technology Inc (Nasdaq:XLTC), Ruby Tuesday Inc (Nasdaq:RT) and First California Financial Group Inc (Nasdaq:FCAL) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Cato Corp (Nasdaq:CTR), Fundtech Ltd (Nasdaq:FNDT), Duckwall Alco Stores Inc (Nasdaq:DUCK), Metabolix Inc (Nasdaq:MBLX), InterVoice Inc (Nasdaq:INTV) and Renaissance Learning Inc (Nasdaq:RLRN).

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

Shares of Renaissance Learning, Inc. (Nasdaq:RLRN) are falling on news after the close on Tuesday that the provider of computer-based assessment technology for schoolchildren could be hurt by the economic slowdown.

“We expect that the economic downturn will hurt school funding and our sales in a number of states, particularly California and Florida, and now believe that our initial order projections of 15%-20% growth for the full year may be too aggressive,” CEO Terrance Paul said in a statement.

The Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-based company also reported that first-quarter profit was $2.6 million, or $0.09 per share, compared with $1.3 million, or $0.05 per share, a year earlier.

At 3:32 p.m. ET, the stock had let go $0.65, or 5%, to $13.52.

Renaissance Learning, Inc. (Nasdaq: RLRN), provider of technology to support personalized practice and progress monitoring in reading, math and writing for pre-K-12 schools and districts, reported third-quarter earnings below Wall Street’s expectations.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-based firm recorded net income of $1.4 million, or $0.05 per share, while an analyst polled by Thomson Financial had forecasted earnings of $0.08 per share. For the third quarter of 2006, net income was $2.1 million, or $0.07 per share.

Revenues were $25.8 million, an increase of 2.5% from third quarter 2006 revenues of $25.2 million. An analyst on Wall Street polled by Thomson Financial was projecting revenues of $26.32 million.

Renaissance said in a press release that its transition to subscription software pricing delayed revenue recognition during the third quarter, but despite that, the company had a good quarter from an operations standpoint. Deferred revenue increased by $8.9 million in the third quarter to reach an all time high of $38.5 million. 

The company, however, noted that it recorded its first quarterly revenue growth, excluding the impact of acquisitions, since the fourth quarter of 2003 and new school adoptions of Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Math increased compared with the same quarter last year.

Service revenues were up 27%; laptop orders were down 4% for the quarter, but the company said that the loss was narrower than previously experienced declines.

Renaissance said it’s experiencing substantial growth in order dollars per school for schools who have upgraded to Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Math. The firm noted that customer schools upgrading from former versions of Accelerated Reader to AR Enterprise have increased their annual reading product purchases by an average of slightly over $1,000 per school, and said it expects this trend to continue.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices are higher this morning as news of strong earnings overshadows unimpressive economic data.

At 10:42 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had added 4.32 points, or 0.52%, to 827.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was up 24.31 points, or 0.17%, to 13,937.25.

The first bullish earnings news came out after the close on Tuesday when search engine Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) reported third-quarter profit that outpaced Wall Street’s projections. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said that net income slipped to $151.3 million, or $0.11 per share, compared with $158.5 million, or $0.11 per share a year earlier. However, analysts were forecasting earnings of $0.08 per share.

The trend of tech sector heavyweights beating earnings projections continued today with Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) and United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) also announcing better-than-expected quarterly financials.

Futures were up and small and big caps were poised for even bigger gains when news that the U.S. housing sector continues to agonize pulled the bulls back.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported before the opening that housing starts for the month of September fell to their lowest annualized pace in 14 years.

In after-hours trading, Renaissance Learning, Inc. (Nasdaq: RLRN) shares are down after the education software maker announced after the closing that its third-quarter net income fell to $1.4 million, or $0.05 per share, below analyst estimates of $0.07 per share and from $2.1 million, or $0.07 per share, a year earlier. Third-quarter revenue increased to $25.8 million, below Wall Street projections of $26.6 million and compared with $25.2 million during the same period of 2006.

"Though not apparent from the reported revenue and earnings because of our transition to subscription software pricing, which delays revenue recognition, this was a very good quarter for us from an operations standpoint," CEO Terrance Paul said in a statement.

In after-hours trading, RLRN shares are down 1.02%, or $0.13, at $12.60. Over the last 52 weeks, shares have ranged from $10.55 to $18.80.