Hughes Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH) soared Friday and hit a new 52-week high of $62.87 and closed up 18.2% at $60.86 on reports that the satellite network and systems provider is up for sale. This appears to be 5-year highs on the stock and the market cap is listed as $1.33 billion after the run-up.
The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) lost over $10.00 last week after Cargill is set to unload its majority stake in t
he potash and fertilizer company. The thought is that the sale may be viewed by management as a near-peak of the trend, but many still think Mosaic could be acquired. Vale SA (NYSE: VALE) said recently that rumors of its interest in broad fertilizer companies were unfounded, but that leaves many others. At $73.20, the 52-week range is $37.68 to $85.45 and the stock is now down for 2011 versus the $76.36 close out price of 2010.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) has already surged this year on its Intel settlement. After closing out 2010 at $15.40, shares closed Friday at $22.22 and the new recent high is $23.98. Barron’s blew more hot air in it this weekend and noted, “NVIDIA…. now gunning for the tablet and smartphone markets. Why its stock could practically double.” Keep in mind that its market cap is already approaching $13 billion, but unless any new negative data or negative research hits between now and Monday this could propel shares higher by at least 3% early Monday.
Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) is back in play if the company has its way. The reports that it was putting itself up for sale on Friday sent shares up by almost 15% to $14.15 against a 52-week range of $7.86 to $15.96. With a market cap of just under $750 million, it is well within the range of a buyer if anyone wants it. The problem boils down to price, and this is not the first time investors have bet on a buyout here.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) was given a reality check by Barron’s this weekend. Barron’s noted, “Salesforce.com has good growth prospects, but not good enough to justify its sky-high stock price.” Salesforce.com has good growth prospects, but not good enough to justify its sky-high stock price. At $132.24 it has a 52-week trading range of $60.30 to $151.26 and it trades at close to 100-times the $1.38 EPS estimate from Thomson Reuters for fiscal JAN-2012.
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS) was given the pole position as the #1 stock in the Investors Business Daily 100. The #1 position on the IBD 100 replaced Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD which is now #2, followed by #3 LULU, #4 PCLN, #5 CXO, #6 NFLX, #7 APKT, and #8 BIDU.
Sterling Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: SBIB) is one we will want to watch as a research call came out with an upgrade after the acquisition from Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was announced. It was featured in our Top 5 Analyst Calls of the Week and it makes us wonder if a higher bid is possible.
Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG) is supposedly up for sale too. I am not going to add anything more than what we reported about the concerns of this deal on Friday.
World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) was down 2.4% at $13.50 on Friday but a forecast of lower than expected earnings took another 8% out of the shares down to $12.42 in the after-hours session. What is important here is that this marks a 52-week low as the 52-week trading range is $12.86 to $18.95.
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JON C. OGG
