3 Stocks Shaking the Market

Some stocks are one-hit wonders, making a big splash when they first appear, then quickly fizzling into obscurity or oblivion. But for other stocks, that initial big move is only a preview for even bigger and better gains to come.

Today, we've listed three stocks that made some of the biggest upward moves over the past month, despite the incredible volatility in the market, which we'll pair with the ratings issued by our Motley Fool CAPS community. The higher each stock's rating, the greater CAPS members' faith in that company's ability to keep on beating the market.

Source: FinViz.com.

While you were out, the markets collapsed and may continue to do so as concerns over Europe escalate. So before we get shaken out again, let's see why the CAPS community thinks these three companies might continue to outperform the market.

A mighty temblor
Ignore the wider losses that Optimer Pharmaceuticals reported this past quarter, since it was ramping up the launch of its diarrhea drug Dificid. The launch is going well, with sales, while small at $3.9 million, doubling analyst estimates. Approved by the FDA back in May, Dificid -- which is used to treat hospital-acquired diarrhea -- was launched in July.

The drug -- which was found to be non-inferior to ViroPharma's Vancocin in achieving its goals at the end of treatment, but superior to it by having a sustained clinical response -- will be co-promoted with Cubist Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CBST) over a two-year period. A second agreement with Astellas will have that pharmaceutical market the drug pretty much everywhere outside of the U.S. Looking to target more than 2,000 hospitals domestically, and with costs associated with the ailment estimated to be around $3.2 billion annually, there's a fairly large market to tackle.

Insiders have been buying up shares, but the CAPS community has been rather sanguine about Optimer's potential, with just 78% expecting it to outperform the market. Add your thoughts on where the drug developer will go on the Optimer Pharmaceuticals CAPS page and put it on your watchlist to keep track of its progress.

Picture this
Euphoria over the rich valuation suddenly assigned to patent portfolios sent Eastman Kodak's shares soaring. A $4.5 billion payout for a bankrupt company's IP and a $12.5 billion buyout of Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) by Google had investors sending shares of everyone from InterDigital (Nasdaq: IDCC) to VirnetX (AMEX: VHC) higher thinking they, too, would be able to cash in.

Kodak has thought its rather deep portfolio might be worth a pretty penny or two. It floated the idea that it was considering going to market to see what the patents might fetch, particularly the one with which they've been trying to bludgeon Apple and Research In Motion.

Although some analysts pegged Kodak's patent value at about $3 billion, that might be wishful thinking. Kodak's patents may not be worth anywhere near what the market was willing to pay for mobile communications patents, as a rising tide doesn't necessarily lift boats in a different port. Kodak's star has fallen considerably from its heyday, and even if it's able to wrangle a few dollars from its IP, the fast-fading brand likely won't attract the kind of money an up-and-coming one would.

Just 58% of the CAPS All-Stars rating Kodak think it can beat the market. Tell us in the comments section below or on the Eastman Kodak CAPS page if you see it developing any growth from here.

Cool, dude
When Microsoft surprised the market by selling boatloads of its Kinect motion-sensing systems (10 million as of March), it gave a much-needed boost to the software industry that was weakened by the recession. Yet, it has only two real breakout hit games to speak of so far, Dance Central and Kinect Sports. Both are multimillion-unit sellers, but you'd be hard-pressed to name another big one.

Similarly, game maker Majesco Entertainment has relied upon the mammoth success it enjoyed with its Zumba Fitness title, which accounts for three-quarters of all its revenues. Although it acquired free-to-play sports title developer Quick Hit to bolster its social-gaming division, it's doubling down on Zumba by coming out with a follow up release of the title. To keep growing, though, it's going to need a more robust lineup.

While the CAPS community is bullish on Majesco and CAPS member Jonock sees it doubling in value over the next three months, should such faith be placed in a company whose fortunes are tied to one title? Let us know on the Majesco Entertainment CAPS page if you think the game is rigged against it succeeding.

Shake, rattle, and roll
With these stocks shaking the market this past month it pays to start your own research on them at Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page.