5 of Last Week's Biggest Winners

What's better than momentum? Mo' momentum. Let's take a closer look at five of this past week's biggest scorchers.

Source: Barron's.

Let's start with Inteliquent. The company saw its shares soar 51% a week earlier after announcing the sale of its global data business. This week it was Morgan Stanley upgrading the voice services provider despite the huge pop the week before. Clearly, Inteliquent's asset sale that will raise cash and improve profitability is resonating with the market.

Cliffs Natural Resources got a boost after FBR Capital upgraded the iron ore miner from "market perform" to "outperform." Cliffs also announced a quarterly dividend at the same $0.15-per-share rate as it did last time out, when it dramatically slashed its yield. Keeping the payout the same comes as a relief.

MAKO Surgical made the cut despite posting mixed quarterly results. The orthopedic robotics leader did post a narrowing deficit, but analysts were holding out for a smaller loss. Revenue grew at a headier clip than forecasted, as MAKO sold five of its RIO systems and generated revenue from 3,000 orthopedic procedures. MAKO reiterated its guidance, and that's a positive after the stock got trounced last year. Good news is all relative.

MannKind took another small step after providing some color on the potential partners for commercializing the upstart's breakthrough inhalable insulin for diabetes sufferers. MannKind is in discussions with multiple potential partners, and others are waiting on clinical trials for Afrezza that are expected this summer.

Finally, Nokia moved higher after introducing a new smartphone on Friday. The Lumia 928 will be sold exclusively through Verizon Wireless. The unveiling was truly a surprise, since investors figured Nokia would be saving any new product announcements for a Lumia-related media event that it has slated for Tuesday.