The stock market dropped on Friday after major benchmarks once again responded negatively to what many would have thought would be positive news. The latest employment numbers from the Department of Labor's September report continued to show improving job counts and falling unemployment rates. But some market participants had wanted to see stronger gains in jobs, while others pointed to falling bond prices and rising yields as evidence of fear about the sustainability of current levels of economic growth. Some stocks, however, were able to overcome the dour mood. Chefs' Warehouse (CHEF -0.66%), SMART Global Holdings (SGH -0.95%), and AtriCure (ATRC -0.52%) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.
Chefs' Warehouse joins a new club
Shares of Chefs' Warehouse picked up 11.5% after the high-end food supplier got good news from the company behind some of the most influential stock indexes in the world. S&P Dow Jones Indices said that Chefs' Warehouse would join the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, which contains some of the most influential up-and-coming companies in the market. S&P often makes changes to indexes when their component companies merge, opening up spots for promotion. For Chefs' Warehouse, the decision validates the company's efforts to grow even in a tough environment for some of its most important restaurant clients.
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Owning this stock was a smart move
SMART Global Holdings stock soared 26% after the company reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results. The maker of memory chips said that net sales soared by more than two-thirds from year-ago levels, finishing its first fiscal year following its initial public offering. SMART Global also managed to eclipse the $1 billion mark in sales for the year, and CEO Ajay Shah attributed much of the strength to the company's specialty memory business. SMART Global has ambitious expectations for further growth, and the future could be even brighter for the memory company going forward.
AtriCure raises some money
Finally, shares of AtriCure rose 7%. The company bounced back after falling sharply on Thursday when it announced a secondary offering of stock to raise cash. Ordinarily, secondary offerings raise concerns about dilutive impacts for existing shareholders, but when the pricing of the offering was announced late yesterday, the results were better than expected. AtriCure raised roughly $72 million, selling 2.5 million shares at $30.75 per share. Investors were so pleased with the pricing that they pushed the stock higher than the offering price. Though AtriCure's share price is still below where it was before it announced the offering, the news is good for the company's efforts to create new treatments for atrial fibrillation and related diseases.