The stock market performed well on Monday, carrying forward its momentum from Friday's big gains. Investors continued to be optimistic about the prospects for a recovery from December's huge correction, and good news from several companies helped buoy sentiment. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -3.63%), Luxoft Holding (LXFT), and QEP Resources (QEP) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.
AMD releases new chips
Check out the latest Advanced Micro Devices earnings call transcript.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices were higher by 8% after the chipmaker announced updates to some of its hit lines of processors. Among the products announced were second-generation Ryzen 3000, Athlon 300, and seventh-generation A-Series processors for notebook and Chromebook computers. AMD has already done an impressive job of capturing key consumer segments with its emphasis on mobile-device chips, and AMD believes that it can offer a good balance between performance and price while remaining competitive with its rivals in the chip space.
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Luxoft gets a buyout offer
Check out the latest Luxoft earnings call transcript.
Luxoft Holding's stock soared more than 80% in the wake of the software development company getting a buyout bid from DXC Technology (DXC 3.04%). Under the terms of the deal, DXC will pay $59 per share in cash to Luxoft shareholders, valuing Luxoft at about $2 billion. DXC CEO Mike Lawrie noted that "Luxoft and DXC are highly complementary, and our shared vision for digital transformation makes this combination a great fit for both organizations." Yet for long-term shareholders, the deal is bittersweet, as the cash offer only prices Luxoft shares slightly above where they traded a year ago.
Will QEP go private?
Check out the latest QEP Resources earnings call transcript.
Finally, shares of QEP Resources climbed almost 41%. Elliott Associates, a hedge fund that already had a modest stake in QEP, offered to pay $8.75 per share in cash for the oil exploration and production company. That put an overall value of $2.1 billion on QEP, whose stock has performed poorly in light of falling oil prices recently. Elliott has argued that QEP should take more actions to maximize shareholder value, but the hedge fund apparently lost patience with the pace of the oil company's strategic moves. QEP said it has received the proposal and will evaluate it accordingly.
