Ancestry.com Inc.’s (ACOM) shares gained 30 percent to $41.85 at the start of trading Friday, the most intraday since November 2009. The online provider of family histories late Thursday reported strong bottom- and top-line growth. Ancestry’s Q1 profit more than doubled to $9 million, or 18 cents a share, vs the average analyst estimate of 15 cents a share. Volume has exploded with nearly 5 million shares already trading hands compared to a 3-month daily average volume of just 589,000. Day’s range: $36.00 – $41.85.
Cerner Corp.’s (CERN) shares advanced 11% after the health-information technology company late Thursday reported better-than-expected quarterly profit. First quarter revenue came in at $491.7 million, up 14% compared to $431.3 million in the year-ago period. Excluding items, Cerner earned $0.80 a share vs $0.76 estimates. The co. said it currently expects 2011 adjusted diluted earnings of $3.55 to $3.62 a share, on sales of $2.07 to $2.12 billion, up from a prior range of $3.50 to $3.60 a share, on revenue of $2.05 to $2.1 billion. Shares of the North Kansas City, Missouri – based Cerner closed at $112.09 on Thursday on Nasdaq. At last check, CERN was up $10.92, or 9.74%, to $123.24. Volume: 1.9 million shares traded as of 12:45 p.m. EST vs 588,000 daily (3m) average.
Netgear Inc.’s (NTGR) shares were up more than 26% recently, to $43.05, the highest intraday price since the co.’s July 2003 initial public offering. The maker of modern routers and other wireless products reported better-than-expected Q1 results and forecast Q2 sales to be at least $270 million, topping the $241 million consensus. For the first quarter, Netgear said it earned $21.2 million, or $0.57 a share, up from $0.38 a share, y/y. Volume has exploded with nearly 3 million shares already trading hands compared to a 3-month daily average volume of just 385,000 shares. Day’s range: $39.79 – $43.67. NTGR closed at $34.00 on Thursday on Nasdaq.
SunPower Corp. (SPWRA) surged 37 percent to $22.05, the highest intraday PPS since January 2010. The French oil giant Total SA (TOT), Europe’s third-biggest oil producer, announced late Thursday that it was planning to buy a majority stake in U.S. solar energy firm at a price of $23.25 a share, which is a premium of almost 50% over the security’s prior session closing price ($16.12). TOT said it will pay $1.38 billion to acquire a 60% stake in SunPower Corp in a bid to increase its exposure to the solar industry. Kaufman and Wedbush upped their price target on shares of SPWRA to $23.50 from $17 and to $20 from $11, respectively. Both firms view this deal as very positive for SunPower. Volume has exploded with nearly14 million shares already trading hands compared to a 3-month daily average volume of 3.8 million shares.
Other solar names catching a bid following SPWRA news include Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ), China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (CSUN), GT Solar International, Inc. (SOLR), LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (LDK), JA Solar Holdings (JASO), JinkoSolar (JKS) and First Solar, Inc. (FSLR).
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) rallied 14 percent after the wireless semiconductor company reported Q2 earnings of $0.41 per share, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.39. The company also issued upside guidance for Q3, saying it currently sees EPS of $0.46, excluding non-recurring items, versus $0.43 consensus. Today’s trading range for shares of SWKS has been between $29.70 – $31.95. Ticker closed at $27.51 on Thursday on Nasdaq. Volume: 8 million vs daily average of 4.9 million.
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