Morning Buzz: Alpha Pro Tech (APT), Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP), Zynga (ZNGA), Rockwell Medical (RMTI), Mitek Systems (MITK)

Shares of Alpha Pro Tech Ltd. (APT) are up nearly 13% in pre-market trading Friday, after the protective-gear maker announced a significant order increase in October because of the Ebola scare.

“New orders for the month of October were higher by $1 million compared to historical levels,” Al Millar, president of Alpha Pro Tech said in a statement. “The increased interest in our N-95 respirator mask, shields and coverall suits was converted to purchase orders in hand during the month of October, with the trend continuing through early November.”

“With significant excess production capacity in our infection control products, our team is stepping up our manufacturing operations to increase output and fulfill the increase in customer orders,” continued Millar.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of this hazmat-suit maker have traded between a low of $1.68 and a high of $10.73 and are now at $3.47. APT has a T-12 PE ratio of 20.53 and is currently priced at 20.53x this year’s forecasted earnings compared to the industry’s 30.68x earnings multiple. Alpha Pro Tech has a market value of $54.63M and is part of the Healthcare sector and Medical Appliances & Equipment industry. The name has a beta of 1.13 and a short float of 4.10% with 1.00 days to cover.

Shares are up 81.18% year-over-year, and 43.26% year-to-date.

Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP) stock is getting crushed, down 37%, shaving almost $52 off its stock price after the company missed Wall Street’s Q3 EPS estimates by $0.02, missed on revenue, guided Q4 EPS & revs below consensus and said inventory for its key drugs had piled up. For Q4, Salix expects EPS of $1.16 __ $0.79 below estimates. The co.’s sales forecast of $325M is up 26% y/y, but $111M below consensus.

In other Salix news, the firm announced the appointment of Timothy Creech as acting CFO effectively immediately. Adam Derbyshire has resigned his position at the company.

On valuation measures, Salix Pharmaceuticals shares are currently priced at 153.43x this year’s forecasted earnings compared to the industry’s (9.22)x earnings multiple. Ticker has a PEG and forward P/E ratio of 1.05 and 19.79, respectively. Price/sales for the same period is 7.04, while EPS is $0.90.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Raleigh, North Carolina-based firm have traded between a low of $79.70 and a high of $172.98 and are now at $88.08. Shares are up 89.69% y/y, and 54.05% ytd.

Shares of Zynga, Inc. (ZNGA) rallied 9.75% in pre-market trading Friday following the company’s third-quarter results. While Q3 sales fell 12.8% year-over-year to $176.6 million, the company said they exceeded the $167.7 million consensus. The company also said that Q3 adjusted loss of $0.01 per share came in-line with consensus estimate of ($0.01).

“I’m encouraged by the results of the quarter as we navigate through this time of transition,” Zynga CEO Don Mattrick said on a conference call with investors. “As we move forward, we aspire to improve our execution in terms of product quality and audience growth.”

In other ZNGA news, investment analysts at Needham upgraded shares of Zynga, Inc. to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Zynga, Inc. is a San Francisco, Calif.-based developer and operator of online social games in the United States and internationally. Its stock has a median Wall Street price target of $3.20 with a high target of $6.00, and a 52-week trading range of $2.20 to $5.89.

The T-12 profit margin at Zynga is (21.28%). The company‘s revenue for the same period is $700.19 million.

Zynga, Inc. has market cap of $2.11B.

Rockwell Medical, Inc. (RMTI) climbed over 22% Friday, after the company announced that the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) voted in favor of Triferic by a vote of 8 to 3.

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee is currently reviewing Rockwell’s NDA for Triferic. The proposed indications (uses) for this product are for the treatment of iron loss or iron deficiency to maintain hemoglobin in adult patients with hemodialysis-dependent stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD 5HD) and to reduce the prescribed dose of erythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) required to maintain desired hemoglobin levels.

RMTI shares recently gained $2.19 to $11.52. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Wixom, Michigan-based firm have traded between a low of $8.11 and a high of $15.85. Shares are down 19.22% year-over-year, and 10.63% year-to-date.

Mitek Systems, Inc. (MITK) rallied 28% in pre-market trading Friday after it reported Q4 earnings that topped expectations.

The tech firm handed in earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, on revenue of $5.5 million, beating Wall Street estimates of ($0.01) per share on revenue of $4.8 million.

“We ended fiscal 2014 with record quarterly revenue of $5.5 million, leading to GAAP and Non-GAAP profitability. Record annual revenue of $19.2 million was largely driven by Mitek’s Mobile Deposit, which is now licensed by over 3,000 financial institutions and used by an estimated 33 million Americans,” said in a statement James B. DeBello, president and CEO of Mitek. “Continuing to focus on Mobile Deposit, Mobile Photo Account Opening and identity capture solutions, we are positioning our mobile imaging platform to help institutions serve the burgeoning wave of mobile consumers.”

MITK shares recently gained $0.77 to $3.52. In the past 12 months, MITK has traded between a low of $1.80 and a high of $7.11. Shares are down 50.27% year-over-year, and 53.70% year-to-date.

Mitek Systems, Inc. develops, sells, and services software solutions related to mobile imaging in the Unites States. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

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