What's better than momentum? Mo' momentum. Let's take a closer look at five of this past week's biggest scorchers.
|
Company |
July 19 |
Weekly Gain |
|---|---|---|
|
Baidu (BIDU +1.45%) |
$111.44 |
15% |
|
Pengrowth Energy (NYSE: PGH) |
$5.83 |
14% |
|
Linn Energy (LINE +0.00%) |
$27.92 |
12% |
|
SUPERVALU (SVU +0.00%) |
$7.63 |
10% |
|
Organovo Holdings (ONVO 1.97%) |
$6.64 |
10% |
Source: Barron's.
Let's start with Baidu. China's leading search engine moved higher after a well-received acquisition. Baidu's $1.9 billion deal to eventually snap up mobile apps marketplace leader 91 Wireless will give the former dot-com darling some serious skin in the mobile game, where its presence has been lacking.
As Chinese consumers migrate from PC-based search to surfing on smartphones and tablets, Baidu needs to make sure it's getting its search box and other services in front of users.
Pengrowth Energy shares were energized after the company announced $713 million in asset sales that will help it bankroll production of its Lindbergh thermal bitumen project, which received regulatory approval earlier in the week.
Linn Energy bounced back this week on a timely Goldman Sachs upgrade. The high-yielding oil and natural gas specialist tumbled earlier this month, when the SEC launched an investigation into Linn's hedging and affiliate acquisition strategies.
Goldman Sachs analyst Theodore Durbin is now upgrading Linn, establishing a $36 price target. He thinks the investigation concerns are overblown.
SUPERVALU moved higher after blowing away profit targets. The supermarket giant's adjusted profit of $0.14 a share was more than double the $0.06 analysts were stocking up on. We can't say the company is back, though, as same-store sales were down 3% for the period. However, SUPERVALU's cost-cutting initiatives that have included asset sales and layoffs are paying off on the bottom line.
Finally, we have Organovo. The medical tech upstart soared 55% a week earlier after transferring from trading on the Pink Sheets to the more prolific NYSE MKT exchange.
The momentum carried over, and it's been as volatile as I expected it to be. The provider of three-dimensional human tissues for medical research and therapeutic applications saw its shares pop 13% on Monday and another 16% on Wednesday, only to shed 15% of its value over the course of Thursday and Friday.
