The Nasdaq 100, a tech-heavy index, finished last week down 0.25% to close at 1,818.68. Mixed economic data and partisan bickering over health care left investors with little to cheer about.
Pops and drops
Here's a closer look at the index's top movers, both to the upside and downside. Returns are calculated from the Nasdaq 100's closing price on Friday, Feb. 19.
Last week's winners:
|
Company |
Percentage Gain |
CAPS Stars (out of 5) |
|---|---|---|
|
Mylan (Nasdaq: MYL) |
11.9% |
*** |
|
Liberty Media Interactive |
9.29% |
*** |
|
JB Hunt Transport Services (Nasdaq: JBHT) |
7.68% |
** |
|
Autodesk |
7.27% |
**** |
|
Hologic (Nasdaq: HOLX) |
7.08% |
***** |
Sources: Capital IQ, Motley Fool CAPS, Yahoo! Finance.
Last week's losers:
|
Company |
Percentage Loss |
CAPS Stars (out of 5) |
|---|---|---|
|
Foster Wheeler (Nasdaq: FWLT) |
(11.8%) |
***** |
|
First Solar (Nasdaq: FLSR) |
(8.94%) |
** |
|
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) |
(7.34%) |
**** |
|
Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) |
(5.25%) |
*** |
|
Lam Research |
(4.91%) |
*** |
Sources: Capital IQ, Motley Fool CAPS, Yahoo! Finance.
A weekly tour of tech
The week's top stock, Mylan, benefited from analyst optimism and a strong fourth-quarter earnings report.
Exactly a week ago, the online edition of Barron's suggested that Mylan's shares could rise 20% this year as global demand for generic drugs increases. On Thursday, the company reported $0.33 in adjusted per-share earnings, nicely above the $0.30 analysts had projected. Executives also projected higher-than-expected fiscal 2011 profit.
Hologic scored a victory for investors when it settled a long-standing patent dispute with Johnson & Johnson. According to Reuters, the company agreed to pay $12.5 million and ongoing royalties to Ethicon Endo-Surgery. The J&J unit first filed a claim against Hologic in 2007. Investors seem happy to be rid of this albatross.
Finally, First Solar offered comparatively disappointing 2010 guidance when compared with reports from peers, such as JA Solar.
"The dim outlook is really driven by Germany, where everyone's rushing to get ahead of the subsidy cut that's expected to arrive around mid-year. First Solar talked about a 'potential pause' in the second half of the year," my Foolish colleague, Toby Shute, explained. No wonder investors were selling.
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