Winners and Losers - March 6-10th

Big Winners

Shares of turn-around project Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc (KKD) rose a full 21% for the week, ending Friday's session at $7.95 per share. The stock ramped up steadily over the week, its rally beginning Tuesday when the company announced it had signed up Daryl G. Brewster as its new CEO. The 49 year-old Brewster comes to the table with a solid track record, having successfully managed turn-arounds in the past with Campbell's Soup and Kraft Foods' Planters product line. Wall Street obviously loved the move, bidding shares of the troubled treat-maker up sharply at Tuesday's opening and carrying that momentum forward through the week. The company still has a long way to go before all of its holes are filled, but this week's rise was the first wave of solid positive momentum the stock has seen in quite some time, and KKD will certainly be an interesting stock to watch over the next few quarters.

Shares of RF component company Sirenza Microdevices Inc (SMDI) shot upwards at Thursday's open, seeing single-day gains up to 16% at its intra-day peak. The shares shot upwards after the specialized technology firm issued raised guidance for Q1 2006, now expecting to earn 7-9 cents per share, up from the previous estimate of 5-7 cents per share. SMDI shares have been gaining steadily since late 2005, with robust growth continuing to be seen across the company's product lines. The company also unveiled a few new low-noise amplifier products as well on Thursday, adding to investor's bullishness for the stock.




Big Losers

Small-cap online diet services company Ediets.com Inc (DIET) didn't have quite the same enjoyable week on Wall Street, however, its shares falling almost 38% by Friday's close. The company, which offers customizable fitness and diet plans, complete with specialized shopping lists, reported earnings Thursday. While Ediets was able to generate reasonable revenue and bottom-line net income for the quarter, the company issued disappointing forward guidance. The company expects a mid to high single-digit percentage decrease for year-over-year 2006 subscription revenues, causing many investors to flee the stock. This shrinkage is expected to be moderately offset by gains in non-subscription revenues, but investors were still uneasy about the firm's operating prospects as it faces a re-tooling period in the coming quarters. For now, Wall Street seems content to trim a sizable amount of market capitalization off of this weight-loss company's size.

Business process optimization company Wind River Systems Inc (WIND) had the wind beneath its wings promptly removed Thursday morning, its shares opening over 17% lower than Wednesday's closing price of $15.36. The company, which primarily is involved in the development of embedded software tools for various types of electronic devices, reported lackluster Q4 results and issued disappointing forward guidance. CIBC analyst Brad Reback downgraded the company as well, stating that while the company's subscription volumes appeared strong, its billing volumes appear to be slowing, causing cuts in both 2007 and 2008 guidance. WIND shares had been soaring until this week, and it will be interesting to see if the stock can regain its momentum following this shortcoming.