US HOT STOCKS: Cliffs Natural, DineEquity, Protalix -2-

12th Jul 2010 15:39

After rallying Friday, material stocks gave back some of their gains. Decliners included Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF, $48.50, -$2.57, -5.03%), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX, $63.96, -$2.02, -3.06%), U.S. Steel Corp. (X, $41.31, -$1.57, -3.66%) and AK Steel Holding Corp. (AKS, $12.72, -$0.66, -4.95%). Shares of DineEquity Inc. (DIN, $30.34, +$1.47, +5.09%), parent of IHOP and Applebee's, gained following a mention in this week's issue of Barron's. The article noted that shares of the company have been hammered, but if its chief executive's strategy works out, investors could be richly rewarded. If DineEquity's deleveraging campaign succeeds, the company's shares, now in the high 20s, will get a boost. One analyst contends that they could hit 100 in five years. Kandi Technologies Corp. (KNDI, $3.17, +$0.09, +2.92%) received an order valued at RMB4.1 million ($604,000) for 60 of the Chinese recreational and electric vehicle maker's all-electric low-speed vehicles from Hangzhou's postal service. Canada's Pengrowth Corp. (PGH, $9.43, -$0.52, -5.23%) Monday said it had agreed to acquire Monterey Exploration Ltd. (MXL.T), a Canadian junior oil and gas company in which it holds an 18% stake, to gain access to gas reserves in northeast British Columbia. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration set a Feb. 25, 2011, target to decide whether to approve Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc.'s (PLX, $5.80, -$0.52, -8.23%) drug for a rare genetic disease, later than the Israeli biopharmaceutical company expected last month. The treatment, taligulucerase alfa, is being developed for Gaucher's disease under a special protocol assessment with the FDA, which helps speed the approval process along. Protalix submitted a rolling new drug application for the drug--which has received orphan drug status--to the FDA in April. ThinkEquity boosted its rating on STEC Inc. (STEC, $15.73, +$0.98, +6.64%) to buy from hold, saying it expects a strong surge in enterprise solid state drive demand in the second half of the year. The firm said that while competition in calendar 2011 is inevitable for the memory products maker, it expects STEC to sustain its first-mover competitive advantage. Retailer Tuesday Morning Corp. (TUES, $4.63, +$0.32, +7.42%) reported fourth-quarter sales of $200.8 million and a same-store sales increase for the quarter of 6%. The company said it expects to report second-quarter earnings of 2 cents to 4 cents. The company is expected to fully release the fourth-quarter results on August 24. UQM Technologies Inc. (UQM, $4.05, +$0.41, +11.26%), a developer of alternative energy technologies, said it has received an initial order for over fifty PowerPhase electric propulsion systems as part of the fleet build and vehicle development activities of an established international automobile manufacturer. Deliveries under the order are scheduled to occur in the fourth calendar quarter of 2010 and the first calendar quarter of 2011. Briefing documents for Thursday's FDA panel on biopharmaceutical company Vivus Inc.'s (VVUS, $11.04, -$0.48, -4.17%) Qnexa obesity drug won't be released until Tuesday, according to the agency. There was hope documents would be out prior to two-day hearing on GlaxoSmithKline PLC's (GSK, $34.93, +$0.09, +0.26%) Avandia beginning Tuesday. The documents should provide insights into some key aspects of the committee's agenda, but timing has caused confusion on the Street. YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW, $0.15, +$0.04, +38.37%) said volume rebounded strongly in the second quarter from early this year, helping to result in a much-improved bottom line, as the largest trucking company in the U.S. continues its struggle to remain above water. -By Dow Jones Newswires; write to [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 12, 2010 10:39 ET (14:39 GMT)