Tag - Volc

Medicines Co. (Nasdaq:MDCO), Rosetta Stone Inc. (Nasdaq:RST) and S&T Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:STBA) are among the new 52-week lows in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Small caps were unable to hold their own today in the wake of bad housing data, the unveiling of a $75 billion mortgage relief plan and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s sharp growth-view cut for 2009.Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq:VOLC), NewStar Financial (Nasdaq:NEWS) and LoJack Corporation (Nasdaq:LOJN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

•General Motors and Chrysler submitted their proposal late Tuesday to the U.S. Treasury, asking for a combined $22 billion more in emergency loans to keep the automakers from going bankrupt.  
• Before the bell, the Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments fell to a record low annual rate of 466,000 in January. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Medical equipment manufacturer Volcano Corporation is up 12% after turning to a profit in Q4 and guiding above estimates. See (Nasdaq:VOLC).
• NewStar Financial is over 10% higher after reporting a rise in Q4 profits See (Nasdaq:NEWS).  
• LoJack Corporation, which was up 14% after the security system company released a 2009 forecast that topped analysts’ estimates. See (Nasdaq:LOJN).  
• Eagle Bulk Shipping is up 6% in pre-market, after hitting a two-month low on Tueday. See (Nasdaq:EGLE).

Small Cap Losers:

• Fitch downgrades CapitalSource to 'BB+'; shares topple 27%. See (NYSE:CSE).
• Oilsands Quest Inc. extends its steep slide, down 10% as many energy companies are limping through trading Wednesday. See (NYSE:BQI).  
• Cross Timbers Royalty Trust declares February cash distribution; shares drop over 18%. See (NYSE:CRT).  

Synchronoss Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:SNCR), Meadowbrook Insurance Group (Nasdaq:MIG) and Volcano Corp. (Nasdaq:VOLC) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: CardioNet Inc. (Nasdaq:BEAT), American Woodmark Corp. (Nasdaq:AMWD), TeleCommunication Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:TSYS), Energy Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq:ES), FreightCar America Inc. (Nasdaq:RAIL) and Universal Electronics Inc. (Nasdaq:UEIC).

Stocks opened higher Wednesday, just one day after suffering steep losses tied to ongoing investor concerns about the economy, but quickly turned south ahead of President Obama’s $75 billion mortgage relief plan release.

At 10:27 am ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is down 5.31, or 1.24%, to 423.59. The Dow and S&P 500 are faring slightly better, but are still in the red, down 0.48% and 0.60%, respectively.

President Obama’s signing of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill into law on Wednesday did little to bolster market sentiment, but there is hope that his $75 billion mortgage relief plan, to be unveiled this afternoon, will buoy the stock market to higher waters. A main cause of the recession has been steep declines in housing prices and sales coupled with rising foreclosures; a solid housing plan out of the Obama administration may be seen as welcoming news to investors.

Before the bell, the Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments fell to a record low annual rate of 466,000 in January — a 16.8% drop compared with analyst predictions of a mere 5% . . .

Small-cap stocks edged slightly lower early today, pulled down by sloppy corporate profit results and mild concern that the roll out of the bank bail out plan was pushed back this week. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq:HBAN), Albany Molecular Research (Nasdaq:AMRI) and Volcano Corp.  (Nasdaq:VOLC).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The U.S. dollar was off about 0.9% against the euro this morning, providing a lift to commodities that are priced in dollar terms.   
• Crude oil futures climbed about $1 a barrel into the stock market open, providing a lift to energy and commodity stocks early.  
• Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is slated to have a press conference on the bank plan Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. ET.
• The official excuse for the bank rescue delay was that the Administration wanted to focus attention on the stimulus plan vote.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Huntington Bancshares rises 22% as many regional banks saw a rise today. See (Nasdaq:HBAN).  
• Albany Molecular Research turns around to profit in Q4; shares rise over 13%. See (Nasdaq:AMRI).  
• Volcano Corp. rose 7% as the market of heart products gapped higher without any apparent fresh news behind the move. See (Nasdaq:VOLC).

Small Cap Losers:

• Insight Enterprises Inc. tumbled nearly 16% as the IT firm announced preliminary quarterly results. See (Nasdaq:NSIT).  
• Global Traffic Network Inc. was off 10% as the traffic report specialist took a hit after releasing profit numbers for the quarter. See (Nasdaq:GNET). 
• AMERISAFE Inc. gapped lower and lost 10% as the workers’ comp firm said they would conduct a governance review. See (Nasdaq:AMSF).

Small-cap stocks edged slightly lower early today, pulled down by sloppy corporate profit results and mild concern that the roll out of the bank bail out plan was pushed back this week. At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 4.18, or 0.89%, at 466.52.

There was some thought that the market needed a little “breather” session after Friday’s solid gains that flew in the face of a bad employment report. With no fresh news yet on the bank or stimulus plans, it was tempting for short-term players to pocket profits off last week’s rise, which also marked the first weekly gain of 2009 for small caps.

Interestingly, bank stocks were holding in okay to start the session — especially regional banks — so any angst tied to the delay in the bank rescue seemed to be manifested in other arenas. Although bank stocks were on decent footing to start the day, financial stocks in general were still simply treading water, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund up just 0.3% on the open.

The official excuse for the bank rescue delay was that the Administration wanted to focus attention on the stimulus plan vote, which could take place today after more debate in the Senate. Among market watchers, it appears that the bank rescue plan is actually more keenly awaited, tied to a sense that it could have a more immediate impact on companies versus the time it will take a stimulus plan to ripple through the economy. For now, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is slated to have a press conference on the bank plan Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Crude oil futures climbed about $1 a barrel into the stock market open, providing a lift to energy and commodity stocks early. Shortly after the open, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund was up 0.6%. Crude oil prices were lifted by talk of further production cuts out of OPEC.

The U.S. dollar was off about 0.9% against the euro this morning, providing a lift to commodities that are priced in dollar terms (such as crude oil). Looking at early sector trends, commodity themes were finding support, with coal, oil refiners . . .

inVentiv Health Inc. (Nasdaq:VTIV), Global Crossing Ltd. (Nasdaq:GLBC) and Lumber Liquidators Inc. (Nasdaq:LL) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Capella Education Co. (Nasdaq:CPLA), CastlePoint Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq:CPHL), RGC Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:RGCO), American Apparel Inc. (Nasdaq:APP), Simcere Pharmaceutical Group (Nasdaq:SCR) and Volcano Corp. (Nasdaq:VOLC).

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

While the rest of the market looks like Pompeii after Mount Vesuvius erupted, Volcano Corp. (Nasdaq:VOLC) has not buried its shareholders. Instead, the medical device maker, which manufactures intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and functional measurement (FM) products for the diagnosis and treatment of vascular and structural heart disease, is growing against all odds.

Volcano is mopping up market share on account of its product differentiation and as the volume of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) and drug-eluting stent (DES) procedures have risen. An augmented sales team and favorable data releases surrounding the value of IVUS have also contributed to an enhanced presence in the market.

The company’s IVUS products have stolen market share and burgeoned by roughly 39% in the second quarter, according to Roth Capital analyst Matt Dolan. This compares with Volcano’s competitor, Boston Scientific, which grew its IVUS business by a measly 7%, and the market’s growth rate of around 20%. “Clearly, Volcano continues to grab market share through its sole focus on IVUS and FM as physicians realize its clinical utility of what we view as a superior product offering,” wrote Dolan. “We remain comfortable with our expectations for sustainable 20% growth in Volcano's IVUS/FM business, with the potential to accelerate growth beyond this level through the introduction of new modalities and further supporting clinical data.”

IVUS system sales galloped 68% and IVUS disposable revenues grew 31% in the second quarter.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2008, revenues surged 40% to $41.5 million from $29.6 million in the second quarter of 2007. Excluding a charge related to Volcano’s acquisition of Novelis, the company posted net profit of $1.2 million, or $0.02 per share, in the second quarter compared with a net loss of . . .

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) posted a big rise following news of a surprising increase in U.S. retail sales in January. The small-cap index gained 16.45 points, or 2.33%, to 721.93, its third consecutive increase. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) advanced 178.83 points, or 1.45%, to 12,552.24.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has dropped 5.76%, while the Dow is missing 5.37% and the S&P 500 has fallen 6.89%.

Stocks small and large opened with a jump on news that retail sales rose 0.3% to $382.9 billion in January, according to the U.S. Commerce Department reported. The results beat economists’ forecast of a 0.2% decline and represent an improvement over December’s 0.4% drop.

Sales excluding autos also increased 0.3%, more than the projected 0.2%. Sales excluding gasoline rose just 0.1%.

The data put investors in a bullish mood, easing fears that a pullback in consumption that will send the economy into recession. Consumer spending is about 70% of U.S. gross domestic product.

But Arun Raha, vice president of Economic Research and Consulting for the North American operations of reinsurance company Swiss Re, cautions against reading too much into the data.

“While this was definitely better than another decline, it is not enough to ease fears that the economy remains weak, and that consumer spending is softening,” Raha said in a phone interview.

The numbers show that much of the gains were due to higher sales of cars and gasoline, while sales of many other goods declined.

A separate report by the Commerce Department showed that business inventories climbed by a greater-than-expected 0.6% in December, while business sales fell 0.5%.

That’s a sign of a weakening economy.

“The risk of recession in the 12 months remains elevated at around 55%,” Raha said.

The bulls nevertheless went on a rampage today, gaining strength as the session went on and making the Russell 2000 the biggest winner among the major U.S. indices.

Here are the day’s biggest percentage gainers and losers, along with top volume leaders, among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures are higher and the small-cap index is ready to rise on news of January U.S. retail sales.

Small-cap stocks are set for a bullish opening following news that retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.3% in January. That beats economists’ forecast of a decline of 0.2% and is an improvement over December’s 0.4% drop.

Sales excluding autos also increased 0.3%, more than the projected 0.2%.

The numbers are good news for those worried that there is a pullback in consumption that will send the economy into recession.

Although the retail sales report represents the biggest calendar event risk of the week, the 10:00 a.m. ET business inventory data might generate a minor ripple in trading later in the morning.

Daily support and resistance levels remain static after Tuesday’s range-bound action: look for support today at 688, 680 and 674, with resistance at 710 and 721.

Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC)
Rancho Cordova, California
http://www.volcanotherapeutics.com

52-week low / high: $14.40 / $23.10
Shares Outstanding: $46.8 million
Market Capitalization: $709.2 million

Next time you indulge in that cheeseburger and fries, remember to think of Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a small cap that takes your health to heart.

Volcano develops, manufactures and commercializes a suite of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and functional measurement (FM) products that enhance the diagnosis and treatment of vascular and structural disease. The IVUS products include consoles, single-procedure disposable catheters and advanced functionality options. Volcano's FM products consist of pressure and flow consoles and single-procedure disposable pressure and flow guidewires.

The FM devices in particular measure the pressure and flow characteristics of blood around plaque, thus allowing doctors to gauge the plaque's impact on blood flow and pressure. In layman's terms, the company monitors just how clogged your arteries get from plaque buildup and how your blood flow and blood pressure stack up as a result.

Founded in 2001, Volcano had an internationally installed base of over 1,800 IVUS consoles and over 700 FM consoles as of Dec. 31, 2006.

The company's financials have been strong and steady: for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007, Volcano reported record revenues of $31.5 million, up 13% from a year earlier. The company reported a net loss on a GAAP basis of $652,000, or $0.02 per share, compared with net income of $501,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding stock-based compensation expense of $2 million, the company reported net income of $1.3 million, or $0.03 per diluted share.

Volcano's future looks promising. During the third quarter, the company announced a market alliance with Philips Electronics Japan to promote its IVUS system alongside Philips' cardiovascular X-ray equipment. Volcano also said that it expects to gain regulatory clearance in the United States for its Revolution rotational catheter in January 2008. In Japan, the company has recently launched the Revolution on its IVG IVUS console.

Residing in a health space where there will always be a need for the diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease, especially with the newest crop of aging Boomers on the horizon, Volcano's growth prospects look anything but constricted.

Note: Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC) is on the “Watch List” of Growth Report, a subscription investment newsletter from Business Financial Publishing, which also publishes SmallCapInvestor.com. As a Watch List company, Volcano displays many characteristics found in successful stock winners, and is being closely monitored for possible inclusion in the Growth Report portfolio at a later date.

Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR), China Sunergy Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: CSUN) and Kosan Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: KOSN) are among the most actively traded companies in Thursday pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $750 million:

Volcano Corp. (Nasdaq: VOLC) reported late Thursday night that it has filed a shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under which the manufacturer of products used for the treatment of vascular and structural heart disease may sell up to $200 million of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities and/or warrants to purchase any of such securities, either individually or in units, in one or more offerings.

Shares of Volcano (VOLC) were halted in pre-market trading.