24/7 Wall St. » PEIX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AIG, COP, HSY, PSX, DMD, AOL, AGU, DTG, M, MPEL, TM, SODA, AMCX, MT, ESRX, MCP, JWN, NUAN, HNR, KSS, PEIX, CPWM, AMRS, ACI)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:06:42 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened sharply lower again this morning as investors consider Greece’s commitment to the austerity measures it had previously agreed to. Renegotiating the deal seems out of the question (more coverage here) and there is even the threat that the EU will not pay the first tranche of the bailout deal when it is due tomorrow (more coverage here). US oil inventories rose last week, putting more pressure on prices today (more coverage here).The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.43% at 80.077. The GSCI commodity index is down -0.5% at 648.60, with commodities mixed on the stronger dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -0.5% at $96.71/barrel and Brent crude trades up 0.02% at $112.75/barrel. Gold settled down -0.6% today, at $1,594.20/ounce, the yellow metal’s first sub-$1,600/ounce closing since December.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 97 points to 12,835.44 (-0.75%), the NASDAQ fell more than11 points (-0.39%) to 2,934.71, and the S&P 500 fell 0.67% or more than 9 points to 1,354.61.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) resumed as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; The Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; and Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is up 3.8% at $26.55; Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) is down -2.2% at $82.69 (more coverage here); Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE: DTG) is up 0.2% at $80.68; Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) is down -3.6% at $38.07 (more coverage here); Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) is down -0.2% at $13.96; Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) is up 3.1% at $80.58; and SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) is up 28% at $37.35.

On Wednesday we are scheduled to get earnings from AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX), ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX), Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP); Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN); Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN); Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR); Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS); and Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) is up 21.9% at $21.92 after posting a new 52-week high earlier today. The company is being acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) for $495 million.

Amyris Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRS) is down -21.7% at $1.98 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.89 earlier today. The biofuels and biotech company posted much higher-than-expected shortfalls in both EPS and revenues.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is up 10.1% at $8.37. The coal miner had no news today, but investors are piling in at a very low price. Volume today topped 25 million shares, more than double Arch’s daily average.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Minneapolis Fed President Naryana Kocherlakota are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – International trade report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – 30-year note auction
2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: ACI, AGU, AIG, AMCX, AMRS, AOL, BBBY, COP, CPWM, DMD, DTG, ESRX, HNR, HSY, JWN, KSS, M, MCP, MPEL, MT, NUAN, PEIX, PSX, SODA, TM

Pacific Ethanol Brings Fears of a Capital Raise (PEIX)

Administrator — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:24:26 +0000

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is paying the price this Monday morning after a filing from Friday came from the company allowing it to raise up to $100 million in capital. The company filed an S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell any combination of debt, common stock, preferred stock, warrants and/or units.

The reaction may be a bit premature as this was just a shelf registration statement. It is worth noting that no underwriters were named in the offering.

After looking at the “use of proceeds” we also noticed a broad discretion of funds and that may be weighing on shareholders. The company noted the “for general corporate purposes” and that includes working capital requirements, capital expenditures, acquisitions, acquisitions of additional ownership interests in New PE Holdco, and the repayment of outstanding debt.

Shares are down over $0.10 or about 10.6% at $0.885 this morning and the 52-week trading range is $0.25 to $3.78. Raising the full $100 million might be a bit difficult in the current climate because the stock’s market capitalization rate today is down to about $78 million according to the Yahoo! Finance data.

As most ethanol producers have discovered, nothing comes for free these days. At least not for long.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Agriculture, Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Oil & Gas, Secondary Offering Tagged: PEIX

Cargill to Boost Ethanol Production (ADM, VLO, GPRE, ANDE, PEIX)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:37:03 +0000

There are more than 200 ethanol refineries in the US with a total nameplate production capacity of nearly 15 million gallons/year. One of the largest producers, privately-held Cargill, plans to add a third plant with a capacity of 115 million gallons/year to its existing 215-230 million gallon capacity. The new plant will employ about 200 people in Nebraska when it becomes fully operational in late 2013.

The odd thing is that Cargill, like other large ethanol producers Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE), The Andersons Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDE), Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX), and privately held POET, has seen demand for ethanol drop. So why build?

Ethanol makers are anticipating the day that federal regulators will give them the green light to switch to an ethanol/gasoline blend of 15% (known as E15) from today’s current 10% (E10) limit. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that means a 50% boost in demand.

The other reason to build more ethanol-making capacity is to export the stuff, principally to Brazil, which can’t seem to make enough to supply its drivers. Last year the US exported 1 billion gallons of ethanol out of total production of 13.9 billion gallons.

There’s not much money to be made in the ethanol business today, but producers expect the E15 rules to be adopted and they expect exports to grow. That’s reason enough to stick it out for now.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Agriculture, Commodities, Oil & Gas Tagged: ADM, ANDE, GPRE, PEIX, VLO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, NEM, DNDN, CHTR, APOL, COST, PCLN, HFC, AZO, CRZO, DPZ, ODP, SAFM, RDC, TECD, YRCW, ALIM, TBET, SUMR, PEIX, CECO)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:14:49 +0000

Stocks started the day nearly flat before turning down on a poor report on US durable goods orders (more coverage here) and a slide in the Case-Shiller home price index (more coverage here). The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index came in much stronger than expected, however, and all the indexes had turned positive by mid-morning (more coverage here). The tech sector, led by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), which posted a new 52-week high over $543/share, carried the rest of the market higher. Crude oil was lower today, with WTI crude lower by -1.9% at $106.55/barrel and Brent crude down -1.92% at $121.79/barrel. Gold settled up 0.8% at $1,788.40/ounce, the yellow metal’s highest close since more than three months.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 24 points to 13,005.12 (0.18%), the NASDAQ rose more than 20 points (0.69%) to 2,986.76, and the S&P 500 rose 0.34% or nearly 5 points to 1,372.18.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) cut to ‘hold’ at TD; Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) maintained as ‘neutral’ but target price cut to $13 at Credit Suisse; Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) maintained as ‘outperform’ and target price raised from $60 to $74 at Credit Suisse; Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; and Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) started as ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) is up nearly 7% at $632.78 after posting a new 52-week high of $637.88 earlier today (more coverage here); HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) is down -3.7% at $31.91 (more coverage here); Autozone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) is up 2.7% at $375.94 after posting a new 52-week high of $377.78; Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) is down -0.5% at $27.47; Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) is up nearly 16% at $38.88 after posting a new 52-week high of $38.90 earlier today (more coverage here); Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) is up nearly 19% at $3.58; Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) is down -1.5% at $48.72; Rowan Companies Inc. (NYSE: RDC) is down -6% at $36.20; TechData Corp. (NASDAQ: TECD) is down -6.7% at $53.62; and YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is down -13% at $10.31.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) is up about 76% at $4.06. The eyecare drug maker received a positive outcome from a European regulatory body for its ILUVIEN treatment.

Tibet Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: TBET) is up 14% at $1.71. The drug maker is being taken private by its CEO and chairman for $3/share.

Summer Infant Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMR) is up nearly 25% at $5.98. The maker of branded juvenile products announced better than expected earnings this morning.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is down more than -26% at $1.19. The ethanol maker’s reported earnings fell short of expectations. More coverage here.

Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) is down more than -18% at $9.17. The for-profit education company posted a weak earnings report this morning.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher, and Philadelphia Fed president Charles Plosser are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – US GDP
9:45 a.m. – Chicago PMI
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
2:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Beige Book
3:00 p.m. – Farm prices

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AAPL, ALIM, APOL, AZO, CECO, CHTR, COST, CRZO, DNDN, DPZ, HFC, NEM, ODP, PCLN, PEIX, RDC, SAFM, SUMR, TBET, TECD, YRCW

Mid-day Movers (ALIM, TBET, ODP, PEIX, CECO)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:20:57 +0000

At about noon today, all three major US stock indexes pushed their way into positive territory, with the DJIA up nearly 24 points at about 13,005, the Nasdaq up more than 19 points at 2,986, and the S&P 500 up more than 4 points to 1,372. After moving lower this morning, markets rebounded following a strong report on consumer confidence, which came after weak reports on durable goods orders (more coverage here) and home prices (more coverage here). The dollar is weaker today, with the dollar index down -0.35% at 78.260. The stronger dollar is pushing most commodities up, although crude oil is down.

Among the major movers at around noon today are Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM), Tibet Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: TBET), Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP), Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX), and Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO).

Alimera is up about 67% at $3.86. Volume is already nearly 13x the daily average of about 256,000 shares traded. The eyecare drug maker received a positive outcome from a European regulatory body for its ILUVIEN treatment.

Tibet Pharma is up about 26% at $1.89. Volume is already 35x the daily average of 106,000 shares traded. The drug maker is being taken private by its CEO and chairman for $3/share.

Office Depot is up nearly 17% at $3.52. Volume is already 2.5x the daily average of around 4 million shares traded. The office supply retailer reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues this morning.

Pacific Ethanol is down about -24% at $1.23. Volume is already nearly double the daily average of around 6.6 million shares traded. The ethanol maker’s reported earnings fell short of expectations. More coverage here.

Career Education is down nearly -16% at $31.67. Volume is already higher than the daily average of around 1.6 million shares traded. The for-profit education company posted a weak earnings report this morning.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: ALIM, CECO, ODP, PEIX, TBET

Morning Movers (ALIM, TBET, ODP, PEIX, APOL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:28:08 +0000

The three major US equities indexes opened flat this morning following a poor report on durable goods orders (more coverage here) and a new low for the Case-Shiller home price index (more coverage here). The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 70.8 in February, well above expectations of 62.5, and that has stirred up some buying (more coverage here). Crude oil prices are also falling on the weakness in durable goods orders. In the first 45 minutes of trading, the DJIA is down about 1.3 points at around 12,980, the Nasdaq Composite is up 8 points at around 2,974, and the S&P 500 is up less than 1 point at around 1,368.

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include the Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM), Tibet Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: TBET), Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP), Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX), and Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL).

Alimera is up about 67% at $3.85. Volume is already nearly 10x the daily average of about 256,000 shares traded. The eyecare drug maker received a positive outcome from a European regulatory body for its ILUVIEN treatment.

Tibet Pharma is up about 34% at $2.01. Volume is already 20x the daily average of 106,000 shares traded. The drug maker is being taken private by its CEO and chairman for $3/share.

Office Depot is up nearly 17% at $3.52. Volume is already higher than the daily average of around 4 million shares traded. The office supply retailer reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues this morning..

Pacific Ethanol is down more than -24% at $1.22. Volume is already nearly 1.5x the daily average of around 6.6 million shares traded. The ethanol maker’s reported earnings fell short of expectations last night. More coverage here.

Apollo Group is down nearly -11% at $45.80. Volume is already nearly 4x the daily average of around 1.8 million shares traded. The for-profit education company lowered its forecast for enrollment and earnings this morning.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: ALIM, APOL, ODP, PEIX, TBET

Mid-day Movers (ATPG, PEIX, LNG, DNDN, BCPC)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:40:12 +0000

In the last half hour of the morning today, all three major US stock indexes pushed their way into positive territory, with the DJIA up nearly 4 points at about 13,987, the Nasdaq up more than 5 points at 2,969, and the S&P 500 up less than 1 point to 1,367. After opening sharply lower this morning, markets rebounded from an early dip following a better-than-expected report on pending home sales. The dollar is stronger today, with the dollar index up 0.19% at 78.548. The stronger dollar is pushing some commodities down, with grains losing the most.

Among the major movers at around noon today are ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (NASDAQ: ATPG), Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX), Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG), Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN), and Balchem Corp. (NASDAQ: BCPC).

ATP is up more than 21% at $8.63. Volume is already nearly 4x the daily average of about 1.7 million shares traded. The independent oil & gas company reported a fourth successful well at its Telemark Hub project.

Pacific Ethanol is up nearly 19% at $1.65. Volume is more than 3x the daily average of about 6 million shares traded. The ethanol maker is expected to report solid earnings and revenues after markets close today.

Cheniere is up about 12% at $15.72 after posting a new 52-week high of $16.25 earlier. Volume is already double the daily average of 5.6 million shares traded. The liquefied natural gas company announced an investment from Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX). More coverage here.

Dendreon is down nearly -18% at $12.20. Volume is already nearly triple the daily average of around 9 million shares traded. The drug maker reported lower-than-expected revenues this morning. More coverage here.

Balchem is down more than -11% at $31.67 after posting a new 52-week low of $31.24 earlier this morning. Volume is about 3x the daily average of around 130,000 shares traded. The chemical company reported weaker-than-expected earnings this morning.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: ATPG, BCPC, DNDN, LNG, PEIX

US Ethanol Subsidy is History (ADM, VLO, PEIX, GPRE, CZZ, RDS-A)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:00:36 +0000

After 30 years of payments to farmers and blenders, the federal subsidy on corn-based ethanol expired when Congress adjourned last week without taking any action to renew the payments. A cynic might say that this Congress has finally accomplished something by doing what it has done best — nothing. The subsidy cost US taxpayers about $6 billion annually.

The lack of Congressional action ends the $0.45/gallon blender’s credit on US-produced ethanol and the $0.54/gallon tariff on imported ethanol. US ethanol producers Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX), and Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE) had already seen the writing on the wall and are not likely to feel any appreciable pain from the end of the subsidies. Brazilian cane-based ethanol maker Cosan Ltd. (NYSE: CZZ) and its partner, Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A) have also been making a profit exporting ethanol to the US in spite of the tariff.

The end of the subsidy does not end the federal mandate on the use of alternative fuels for transportation. Earlier this week we looked at the nonsensical mandate adopted by Congress in 2007 that calls for 200 million gallons of alternative fuels to blended with gasoline in 2012. Virtually every drop will come from ethanol, and the producers really don’t need a subsidy on top of a mandate to make a profit. The mandate alone will do quite nicely, thank you very much.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Oil & Gas, Politics, Regulation Tagged: ADM, CZZ, GPRE, PEIX, RDS-A, VLO

New Biofuels Fail to Meet Government-Mandated Quantities (CDXS, AMYR, GEVO, SZYM, KIOR, ADM, VLO, PEIX)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:49:11 +0000

Back in the heady days of 2007, the U.S. Congress established mandates for the amount of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels to be used in the nation’s transportation fuel supply. Cellulosic ethanol and fuels based on algae are made from nonedible biomass, and thus avoid the criticism of replacing food with fuel. The congressional mandates were very aggressive, calling for 100 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2009, 250 million gallons by 2010, and 500 million gallons by 2013. By 2022, U.S. transportation fuel is supposed to include 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol.

In 2010, the mandate was lowered for that year to 6.5 million gallons and for 2012, the mandate set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been set at 8.5 million gallons. Companies like Codexis Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS), Amyris Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRS), Gevo Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), Solazyme Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM) and Kior Corp. (NASDAQ: KIOR) have so far failed to reach production levels anywhere near mandated levels. Traditional corn-ethanol makers like Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) and Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) continue to supply the vast majority of nonpetroleum based fuels.

Refiners are required either to use cellulosic ethanol or to pay $1.20/gallon for the privilege of not using it. Because so little is available, refiners end up paying for something they cannot buy at any price.

Most biofuels makers have turned to producing specialty chemicals for the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries in order to make some revenue. Truth be told, a gallon of a cosmetic component is far more costly than a gallon of cellulosic ethanol, so these companies continue to work on developing substitute chemicals. The payback from these is more certain and nearer in time than is trying to scale up manufacturing of biofuels and facing uncertain political and distribution issues.

To show how hard things have been, the share price of many pure-play stocks pretty much sums it all up:

Codexis trades at $5.53 and its 52-week trading range is $3.91 to $12.24.
Amyris trades at $11.16 and its 52-week trading range is $9.90 to $33.99.
Gevo trades at $5.59 and its 52-week trading range is $5.18 to $26.36.
Solazyme trades at $11.27 and its 52-week trading range is $7.68 to $27.47.
KiOR trades at $9.31 and its 52-week trading range is $8.88 to $23.85.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Oil & Gas, Politics Tagged: ADM, AMRS, AMYR, CDXS, GEVO, KIOR, PEIX, SZYM, VLO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CSCO, FSLR, SI, BRCM, AFFY, DFS, FDX, PIR, SCHL, WGO, SONO, NVLS, GEVO, ZOLL, BPAX, PEIX)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:05:03 +0000

US markets opened fast this morning, up nearly 1% in the first hour of trading before giving most of the gain back by mid-morning and then wandering around a gain of less than 0.5% for the rest of the day. Better manufacturing data from Europe, and solid manufacturing gains in the US helped the market in the early going. The US dollar was down against the euro, the yen, and the British pound. Crude oil prices fell today, with WTI down more than -1.5% at $93.44/barrel and Brent down about -0.9% at $103.33. Gold continued its slide as well today, down more than -1% at $1,568.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 47 points to 11,869.95 (0.39%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 2 points (0.07%) to 2,541.01, and the S&P 500 rose 0.33% or about 4 points to 1,215.83.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) started as ‘buy’ at Nomura. Other ratings actions today include First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at R.W. Baird; Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; and Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY) raised from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is down -3.2% at $23.06; FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) is up almost 8% at $83.45; Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) is up 0.23% at $13.17; Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHL) is up more than 4% at $26.73; and Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WGO) is down -0.15% at $6.80.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

SonoSite Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) is up more than 27% at $53.68, a new 52-week high. The ultrasound device maker has been acquired by Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Inc. for $54/share, or about $995 million. Our coverage is here.

Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) is up more than 17% at $40.68, after posting a new 52-week high of $42.50 earlier today. The semiconductor equipment maker is being acquired by Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) for $3.3 billion in an all-stock deal. More coverage here.

Gevo Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is up more than 13.5% at $6.41. The biofuel and chemical company signed an agreement with The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) to develop a new bio-derived plastic bottle.

Zoll Medical Corp. (NASDAQ: ZOLL) is up more than 29% at $60.47, after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $63.86. The medical device maker’s wearable defibrillator has been re-affirmed for Medicare coverage.

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPAX) is down more than -77% at $0.48, after posting a new 52-week low of $0.46 earlier today. The biopharmaceutical company reported that its experimental drug to enhance libido in post-menopausal women failed a late-stage trial.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is down nearly -18% at $0.87. The ethanol maker announced the completion of a sale of about 12.6 million shares and warrants to 11 private investors for just over $8 million in cash.

Stay tuned for Friday. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans and Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher are speaking tomorrow. Here is another other noteworthy event on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index for November released

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AFFY, BPAX, BRCM, CSCO, DFS, FDX, FSLR, GEVO, NVLS, PEIX, PIR, SCHL, SI, SONO, WGO, ZOLL