Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is down 5.5% this morning at $36.60 on over 100,000 shares.  The media and content accelerator beat earnings estimates even though earnings were down 15%.  Despite a revenue gain, the company announced that its CEO would step down from the company by the end of 2013.

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) rose 11% ahead of the close to $23.09 today, but shares are up another 8% or so on over 500,000 shares since the market closed after reporting revenues and earnings ahead of estimates.  This will mark a 52-week high.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) beat earnings and raised guidance; the stock was up 6.5% last night and shares are now up 8.3% at $23.09 on almost 50,000 shares.

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) had a 32% earnings gain is being trumped with an outlook that is not as robust as investors were hoping.  Shares were down over 8% last night but the stock is down only about 4.5% at $21.04 this morning.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is trading up almost 8% at $16.20 and we have seen almost 500,000 shares trade hands.  There is a rumor of a buyout or of some sort of deal involving the company but details are not that clear as of yet.

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) won on an earnings gain yet again and shares were up 7.6% last night; now shares are up 8.5% at $162.21 and that is a new 52-week high above $161.56 if it holds.

Heartware International, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTWR) is up over 15% at $80.10 on more than 100,000 shares; the company received a favorable FDA Advisory Committee vote for its Ventricular Assist System to bridge  transplant for patients with end-stage heart failure.

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) claimed a record year in total tax clients the company is shedding some 350 jobs and is shutting some 250 stores in order to save money.  Shares were down over 10% last night and are now down 13.9% at $14.41 pre-market.

Logitech International SA (NASDAQ: LOGI) reported earnings, but this is up because of a change made in its executive management in what investors will hope is a solid turnaround.  Shares are up over 13% at $8.85 in thin pre-market trading.

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) issued guidance that appears to be above expectations and shares are continuing their surge.  This is up almost 13% on almost 200,000 shares pre-market.

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE: SKX) is up 16% at $17.34 in thin pre-market trading despite a huge drop in sales and despite a loss as the cleaning out of inventory and restructuring is taking hold with pairs sold on the rise.

Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ: STMP) is up 11.3% at $31.50 in thin volume pre-market after it grew handily:  27% in its core PC postage revenues and up 41% in non-GAAP earnings per share.

TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT) rose over 7% yesterday as an Apple-winner, but shares are down huge as guidance fell short of estimates.  Maybe Apple drove too hard of a bargain.  The drop was over 13% last night and the drop this morning is 14.6% at $4.71 on over 350,000 shares.

Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) showed a net income drop but its outlook for the current quarter is signaling improvements are on the way.  Shares were up over 7% last night and that is the same today with a gain of 7.36% to $36.85 on more than 50,000 shares in the pre-market.

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JON C. OGG

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is seeing what might be an unusual move to some.  The company beat earnings estimates even though earnings were down 15%.  Despite a revenue gain, the company announced that its CEO would step down from the company by the end of 2013.  Shares closed up 2.7% today and the stock is up another 2.7% at $38.75 in the after-hours session.

Ancestry.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOM) rose 4.4% ahead of the closing bell to $24.44 but the company announced earnings and that it is acquiring a service called Archives.com as well.  This is for more growth and solidification of its business and the stock is up another 6% at $26.00 in the after-hours session on over 50,000 shares.

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) rose 11% ahead of the close to $23.09 today, but shares are up another 8% or so on over 500,000 shares since the market closed after reporting revenues and earnings ahead of estimates.  This will mark a 52-week high.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) was up 3.5% to $77.17 today but then after beating earnings and raising guidance the stock is up yet another 6.5% to $77.35 in the after-hours session on about 400,000 shares since the close.

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) has to admit that its shoes are ugly even if they are comfortable.  Its stock was up 2.5% at $22.04 ahead of the close, but a 32% earnings gain is being trumped with an outlook that is not as robust as investors were hoping.  Shares are down over 8% at $20.22 on more than 250,000 shares since the close.

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) is back in the saddle and shares are now again within striking distance of new highs.  Shares closed up 1.2% at $149.47 on the day but investors are cheering its earnings gains with a 7.6% gain to $160.85 on over 300,000 shares traded since the closing bell.

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) was up 0.9% in normal trading today but despite a record year in total tax clients the company is shedding some 350 jobs and is shutting some 250 stores in order to save money.  Shares are down 10.4% at $14.35 in the after-hours session against a 52-week range of $12.54 to $17.83.

LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) has been riding high this week on news after Apple beat earnings and after Barron’s touted it over the weekend.  After a gain of 5% to $8.43 today, the company’s reaction to beating earnings and increasing guidance is sending shares up 2% to $8.60 in the after-hours.

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE: SKX) was up despite a huge drop in sales and despite a loss as the cleaning out of inventory and restructuring is taking hold with pairs sold on the rise.  The change was less than 1% today but the stock is up 16% at $17.34 in the after-hours with almost 100,000 having traded since the closing bell alone.

Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ: STMP) is one of the after-hours leaders as well with a gain of 11% at $31.45 on over 25,000 shares since the market closed. The online stamp outfit did not just grow, it grew handily:  27% in its core PC postage revenues and up 41% in non-GAAP earnings per share.

TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT) rose over 7% today as an Apple-winner, but shares are down huge as guidance fell short of estimates.  Maybe Apple drove too hard of a bargain.  The drop is a sharp 13.4% to $4.76 in the after-hours session on over 500,000 shares since the close.

Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) showed a net income drop but its outlook for the current quarter is signaling improvements are on the way.  Shares rose over 2% today but the stock is up over 7% at $36.85 on almost 200,000 shares since the close.

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JON C. OGG

Markets opened slightly lower this morning and spent the morning trying to decide on a direction. The Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose more than expected, but even that was not enough to charge up investors. In the early afternoon, advances were leading declines on the NYSE, while the status was just the reverse on NASDAQ. Both oil and gold prices were slightly lower after rising sharply yesterday. So far this month, markets are up a solid 13%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly more than 21 points to 12,230.35 (0.18%), the NASDAQ fell about -1.5 points (-0.05%) to2,737.15, and the S&P 500 rose 0.03% or about 0.47 points to 1,285.06.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including a raise for Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo. First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was maintained at ‘buy’ but the target price was cut to $90 at Argus; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) cut to ‘sector perform’ at Scotia; Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) cut to ‘sector perform’ at CIBC; Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) raised to ‘outperform’ at Macquarie; and Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) raised to ‘outperform’ with a new target price of $135 at Credit Suisse.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is up 0.3%, at $109.99, two pennies short of a new 52-week high; Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) is down about -7.6%, at $48.91; Merck (NYSE: MRK) is up 2.3%, at $35.10; Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is up 4.33% (our coverage here), at $144.38; Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) is up 1.6%, at $18.23; and The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE: IPG) is up 11.6%, at $9.94 (our coverage here).

Several other standouts from today follow …

Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) is up more than 27%, at $12.65. The company beat earnings estimates this morning, and has reiterated its production estimates for platinum and palladium for 2011. Stillwater recycled 133,500 ounces of platinum, palladium, and rhodium in the third quarter, up 70% from the same period a year ago.

Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) is up more than 34%, at $23.94. The company posted solid earnings for the third quarter and announced a $150 million stock buyback program. Align manufactures and sells Invisalign teeth straightening products.

Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ: STMP) is up more than 25%, at $32.48 — a new 52-week high — following an outstanding earnings report. Stamps.com raised its non-GAAP EPS estimate for the second time this year, to $1.20-$1.40. The company originally estimated non-GAAP EPS of $0.85-$1.05.

Computer Programs and Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CPSI) are down more than -28%, at $51.10. The company missed both revenue and EPS estimates for the quarter, and the fourth-quarter outlook is also weak. The company’s $1.44/share dividend takes some of the sting out of the poor results.

Spansion Inc. (NYSE: CODE) is down more than -25%, at $10.46, after posting a new 52-week lower earlier today of $9.17. The company released a weaker fourth-quarter forecast and announced the closure of its plant in Kuala Lumpur as part of its effort to cut costs.

Digital River Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) is down more than -19%, at $18.52. The company’s third-quarter earnings were short of expectations and the fourth-quarter forecast was lowered.

Stay tuned for Monday.  We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

9:45 a.m. — Chicago Purchasing Managers Index
3:00 p.m. — USDA farm prices

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The reason that Stamps.com is winning is because the closure of more and more locations should drive more and more users and clients its way.  By enabling people to print electronic stamps directly onto envelopes or labels using their PC and printer, the company will get a cut as fewer and fewer people using mail will drive a distance to get stamps.  Its PhotoStamps also allows consumers to turn digital photos or images into valid U.S. postage with many of the same insurance offerings and packing options that the Postal Service offers in its locations.

Fewer locations of the POst Office and fewer processing facilities also will be a win for both United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) and FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX).  Just don’t look at their stocks to try to figure how much they might win from it because those stocks are down since the Post Office woes came to light again last week.

Stamps.com claims to offer far cheaper alternatives than traditional postal meters without long-term contracts. For a rough savings guess I went to Stamps.com calculating tool to check on annual savings and used the following scenario: 10 pieces of mail per day on average with only a $0.48 average piece of mail without any percentages in mail confirmation or with insurance.  The cost calculated was $436 per year.  If 25% required delivery confirmation and also with package insurance, then their projected savings comes to $820 per year.

What is more impressive than the 10.6% gain to $24.75 and the new 52-week high of $25.24 earlier today is that the stock was trading under $21.00 just four days ago.

JON C. OGG

Today the stock is up 5% at $15.10 with about 20 minutes to the close, and its 52-week trading range is (was) $8.47 to $15.00.  Interestingly enough, it has only traded about 122,000 shares and its average daily volume is about 150,000 shares.  This now has a $292 million market cap.  It’s liquidity as of last quarter was more than $90 million in cash, equivalents, and long-term investments, while it has essentially no long-term debt.

This is one is extremely thin on coverage with First Call noting 3 estimates and a consensus of $0.63 EPS on $87 million in revenues for 2008.  So there is nothing in the remedial analysis that screams total bargain basement nor anything that screams grossly over-valued here.  There have been no major analyst calls.  Back in April this was trading under $11.00.

Could this be genuinely as simple as people not using gas to go to the post office?  Of course not.  There may still be some excitement about last month’s approval to protect its "tax net operating losses."  It also has a provision that any holder acquiring more than 5% of the shares outstanding has to first obtain a waiver from the company’s board of directors and those holders who already hold more than 5% cannot make any additional purchases of Stamps.com stock without a waiver.

Here was the description of that move:
Stamps.com currently has approximately $250M in Federal NOLs and $150M in State NOLs, with a potential value of up to $95M in tax savings over the next 15 years. The value of these NOLs could be significantly impaired unless the Company avoids potential transfers of its stock that could trigger such an “ownership change” under Section 382.

We had looked at this one for our Special Situations newsletter before, but we had to pass on it because the stock options to hedge the stock were too illiquid on the surface.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about other secondary offerings, mergers, special financings, IPO’s, restructurings, and other special situations.

Jon C. Ogg
June 4, 2008