5 of Last Week's Biggest Winners

What's better than momentum? Mo' momentum. Let's take a closer look at five of this past week's biggest scorchers.

Source: Barron's.

Let's start with JAKKS Pacific. The toymaker soared 43% after posting quarterly results that exceeded expectations. How good was the report? Well, B. Riley had initiated coverage of JAKKS Pacific with an uninspiring "neutral" rating. Six days later, after digesting the report, B. Riley upgraded the stock to a "buy."

Zoegenix was trading lower through the first four trading days of the week, but that changed in a hurry when the central nervous disorders- and pain-tackling biotech announced FDA approval for its treatment of severe chronic pain management.  

Deckers Outdoor's boots were made for going uphill. The company behind Ugg boots and Teva footwear rose after posting a better-than-expected profit. A welcome surprise in the report is that Ugg sales rose during the period. It was just a modest 1% uptick, but some had feared that the trendy boots had topped out in popularity. So, no, we have not hit peak Ugg just yet.

Corning moved higher after striking a deal to acquire the 43% of a joint venture making LCD glass displays from a Samsung subsidiary it didn't own. The move will leave Samsung with a 7.4% stake in Corning. As part of the deal, Corning's board has authorized $2 billion in stock buybacks.

Gentex got a double dose of good news. The maker of dimming rearview mirrors and other car essentials posted strong results, complete with a rosy sales outlook. That was followed by a pair of analyst upgrades as Craig-Hallum and R.W. Baird raised their our own outlooks on Gentex.