10 Stocks Shaking the Market

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

Today, we've compiled 10 stocks that made some of the biggest moves up over the past 30 days. We'll then pair that list 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.

30-day % change from Jan. 6 to Feb. 5.

As the markets whipsaw to changes in consumer sentiment, there will be weeks like this one when we see gains that are way ahead of those from the movers and shakers of previous weeks. Let's see why the CAPS community thinks some of these companies might continue to outperform.

A mighty temblor
Boom to bust is a familiar refrain to anyone investing in the semiconductor industry. This segment of the tech sector regularly surges ahead, then falls behind, as chips and equipment adjust to meet the new demand levels. By all indications, though, it looks like semiconductor companies are gearing up for another boom.

Take the earnings from semiconductor assembly equipment maker Kulicke & Soffa: Its first-quarter profits quintupled on a 240% increase in revenues, easily outdoing analyst expectations. The improvement was on top of an 80% increase in sales in last year's fourth quarter.

CAPS member j7777k dubbed Kulicke & Soffa the bellwether for the industry and is looking forward to extended growth: "'The Canary in the Coal Mine Semiconductor Stock'. This semiconductor cycle has another two years to run. Bought in at $5.25 in November. Should see a 50% PPS [price per share] appreciation in 2010."

A good value
And you thought Avatar in 3-D was really cool. Stratasys makes printers that print in 3-D, so instead of just seeing an object as a flat picture, you can actually print the object itself. Now, because of an agreement with Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), Stratasys will bring 3-D printers to the masses, in Europe anyway, and possibly the world later on.

"Masses," though, is a relative term. While HP sees the market for 3-D printers running into the millions, don't think you'll be getting one bundled with every computer you buy, the way you do with inkjet printers. 3-D printers ain't cheap. Stratasys' Dimension brand sells a personal 3-D printer for "only" $14,900. Its Elite line start at just under $30,000. I wonder how much those cartridge refills go for?

Yet when you think about it, laser printers started off costing thousands of dollars apiece, too, but now you can get an HP model for around $130. It might not be so long before Stratasys 3-D printers are priced low enough to make them affordable enough for most family budgets.

Stratasys figures this deal with HP will launch it into the stratosphere and should be worth $500 million to it over the next five years -- five times more than what sales are today. Compared with the competition, CAPS member elinamarie finds the Stratasys printers to be a workable solution for most offices: "Very interesting technology, fragmented market in terms of technology. best value add of technology since they are usable in office space, others are not ..."

elinamarie is not alone, with 92% of CAPS members rating the printer maker agreeing that it ought to outperform the broad market averages. Add your own thoughts on the Stratasys CAPS page and tell us if you think 3-D printers will become as plentiful as today's inkjets have become.

Shake, rattle, and roll
With these stocks shaking the market recently, 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.