Some stocks are one-hit wonders, making a big splash when they first appear, then quickly fizzling into obscurity or oblivion. But for other stocks, that initial big move is only a preview for even bigger and better gains to come.
Today, we've compiled 10 stocks that made some of the biggest upward moves over the past month. 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.
|
Stock |
30-Day Change^ |
CAPS Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Sunrise Senior Living |
50.70% |
** |
|
Radian Group |
40.21% |
** |
|
Sequenom |
36.93% |
**** |
|
Smith International |
36.14% |
**** |
|
RAIT Financial Trust |
35.71% |
**** |
|
US Airways |
35.31% |
* |
|
Sanmina-SCI |
34.01% |
** |
|
Joe's Jeans |
33.33% |
**** |
|
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts |
28.62% |
* |
|
Wave Systems |
22.36% |
* |
^From Jan. 22 to Feb. 23.
As the markets whipsaw to changes in consumer sentiment, there will be weeks like this one where we see gains that are exceptionally ahead of the pace of the movers and shakers of prior weeks. So before we get shaken out again, let's see why the CAPS community thinks one of these companies might continue to outperform the market.
A mighty temblor
The biggest question mark for Sequenom is the prenatal Down syndrome test snafu that rocked it last year. Should the original test results be verified, it's likely to have a blockbuster on its hands. Yet the market has been keeping the stock low because of the uncertainty, even though advocates have been saying that's not Sequenom's only iron in the fire.
The diagnostic-test maker has seen its shares on the move this month precisely because some of the irons are now coming into play. It launched a test last week using its proprietary MassArray technology to determine the sex of a fetus. The molecular diagnostics testing market has been growing at 19% annually, including testing for prenatal diagnostics, oncology, infectious diseases, and others. Sequenom still has a good chance to capture a large portion of the market.
Another iron was also shown earlier this month, when the company announced it was licensing worldwide rights to a potential test for a form of blindness called age-related macular degeneration.
Highly rated CAPS All-Star jsbalaban, who identifies as a doctor in the field, believes that now that the biotech has "cleaned house," it is looking at a massive opportunity in the fetal-test market:
Sex typing will bring in even more money than the Down's Syndrome test currently being retrialed. Incidentally, those trials are likely to be successful, since just like the other tests, the platform is simply searching for specific nucleotide string segments. The possible menu of fetal tests is now vast and free of fetal or maternal risk. In the biotech sector, there proabably isn't any more sure a bet going than [Sequenom].
More than 91% of the CAPS members rating the biotech believe it will outperform the market, and 94% of the All-Stars weighing in have a similar inclination. Head over to Sequenom's CAPS page and let us know whether you think it will be able to inoculate itself from further damage.
Shake, rattle, and roll
With these stocks shaking the market this past month 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.
