Tag - Swsi

Cbeyond Inc (Nasdaq:), Superior Well Services Inc (Nasdaq:SWSI), Deer Consumer Products Inc (Nasdaq:DEER) and Cumberland Phanmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:CPIX) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Hawk Corp (Nasdaq:HWK), Speedway Motorsports Inc (Nasdaq:TRK), Bridgford Foods Corp (Nasdaq:BRID), Digimarc Corp New (Nasdaq:DMRC) and AFC Enterprises Inc (Nasdaq:AFCE).

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) posted a stunning rise on news the U.S. Federal Reserve has moved to increase liquidity. The small-cap index jumped 29.84 points, or 4.63%, its largest increase this year, to 673.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) added 416.66 points, or 3.55%, to 12,156.81.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has declined 12.04%, while the Dow is down 8.35% and the S&P 500 has let go 10.06%.

Stocks soared out of the gate on news before the start of trading that the U.S. Federal Reserve and four other central banks will make expanded loans of cash and securities to financial institutions in an effort to ease the credit squeeze and keep the economy growing.

The Fed said it will lend up to $200 billion of Treasury securities to primary dealers for a term of 28 days. The U.S. central bank usually makes such loans overnight.

The Russell 2000 opened strong and bobbled in the green until halfway through the session, when it settled on an upward trajectory.

Superior Well Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: SWSI) CEO David Wallace said the provider of well-site solutions to oil and natural gas companies believes long-term industry fundamentals are in the firm’s favor. Wallace made the comments during a midday conference call.

“We’re excited about the opportunities ahead,” Wallace said. “Declining well productivity requires our customers to increase their drilling and completion activity just to maintain and grow production.”

Going forward, he said the Indiana, Penn.-based firm sees increased demand and rebounding bid activity since the end of 2007.

“Although we expect improvements in business activity, we do expect continued pricing pressure in certain markets and will act to improve profitability even if it requires reallocating assets between basins,” Wallace said.

The chief executive said softness experienced during the fourth quarter may carry over and impact first-quarter results. Superior expects revenue growth in 2008 to be driven by higher utilization across a larger fleet for the entire year as the firm expands its customer list, he said.

“We expect profit improvement by working diligently to obtain the permits required for installing cost-saving bulk handling facilities as well as moving the mix of services up to more profitable super-high tech work and operating a high-performance fleet preferred by customers regardless of the business cycle,” Wallace said.

Before Tuesday’s opening, Superior Well posted fourth-quarter earnings of $7 million, or $0.30 per share, down 29% from earnings of $9.8 million, or $0.49 per share, a year earlier. Analysts expected earnings of $0.52 per share.

Warren Buffet once said that “if a business does well, the stock eventually follows.”

Superior Well Service, Inc. (Nasdaq: SWSI) is one company that literally does wells (oil and gas, to be specific) and its business appears extremely well-positioned for revenue growth despite stiff pricing competition and oil and gas price volatility.

The Indiana, Pa.-based company’s primary expertise lies in stimulating oil and gas extraction for its clients with high-pressure gas and fluids that fracture underground formations. Superior also offers high-tech “down-hole” surveying using special tools that transmit data (including rock type, porosity, well integrity and the presence of hydrocarbons) back to surface computers. Additionally, the company has well-cementing and perforation capabilities.

The company set up shop in 1997 with two service centers in the Appalachian region. From those humble beginnings, it has grown to around $465 million in market capitalization with 25 service centers in five regions serving 600-plus clients.

What distinguishes Superior from numerous smaller players is its high-tech capabilities and geographic spread. However, it is Superior’s competitive pricing and flexibility that have allowed it to chip away at the market share of much larger firms in the oil and gas service industry such as Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB).

Take the third quarter of 2007 for example. Revenues jumped 29% sequentially in the Appalachian region and 16% in the Southeast region but fell in all three other regions because of drilling activity declines and pricing pressures. The quick-thinking management took advantage of the situation and halted some projects in the slowing Rockies and Mid-Continent regions to divert resources to Appalachia and the Southeast where activity had picked up.