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Baidu and More Big Movers on the Nasdaq on October 1, 2012
The market is having a good day so far: the Nasdaq is trading up 0.7%; the S&P 500 has climbed 1%; and the Dow has increased 1.1%. Most stocks on the Nasdaq Composite Index are technology and Internet-related, but there are financial, consumer, bio-tech and industrial companies as well.
The biggest movers traded on the NASDAQ so far are:
Broker Summary: Charles Schwab Online Brokerage
After a big jump of 42.9%, Ceradyne (Nasdaq:CRDN) is trading at $34.92 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 11.3 million shares. Volume indicates the level of interest that investors have in a company at its current price. Investors can make use of valuation ratios to estimate whether a stock is fairly valued. A company's price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) provides a measure of how expensive or cheap a stock is. CRDN has a P/E ratio of 11.5, high compared to the industry average of 7.59. Usually, if a stock has a high P/E ratio, it indicates that the market expects the company to grow earnings quickly in the future. From the investor's perspective, a stock with a lower ratio is relatively cheaper than a stock with a higher ratio. SEE: How To Find P/E And PEG Ratios
Rising 4.9%, Haynes International (Nasdaq:HAYN) is currently trading at $54.71 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 13,985 shares, 0.2 times its average over the past three months. A stock's volume conveys how excited investors are about it. A company's investment value can be estimated using valuation ratios such as the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. The price/book value ratio is one of the more common methods of determining whether a stock is fairly valued. The P/B ratio for HAYN is 2.2, indicating that the stock is trading for more than its book value. This high share price relative to asset value is likely to indicate that the company has been earning a very high return on its assets. All else being equal, a stock with a low P/B value ratio is more attractive than a stock with a high ratio. SEE: How Buybacks Warps The Price-To-Book Ratio
Strayer Education (Nasdaq:STRA) is currently trading at $67.25 per share, a 4.5% increase. So far today, the company's volume is 53,143 shares. This is about the same trading activity as there was yesterday. Volume is an important indicator in technical analysis as it is used to measure the worth of a market move. If the markets have made a strong price move either up or down the perceived strength of that move depends on the volume for that period. The higher the volume during that price move the more significant the move. Looking at a company's valuation ratios is a good way of getting a basic idea as to its value as an investment. Dividend yield measures the income that a stock will generate for an investor. STRA's dividend yield is 6.2%. Simply comparing the level of dividends that two stocks pay does not give a true reflection of which security is more attractive, so investors calculate the dividend yield in order to standardize dividend payments. SEE: Due Diligence On Dividends
Currently trading at $35.31 per share, Splunk (Nasdaq:SPLK) has fallen 3.8%. The company's volume is currently 311,541 shares for the day, 0.4 times the current daily average. In technical analysis, trading volume is used to determine the strength of a market indicator. Valuation ratios include the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. The price/sales ratio measures a company's stock market value by its total revenues or alternatively, a company's price per share by its revenue per share. The P/S ratio for SPLK is a high 22.62. In young companies, a high P/S ratio is a sign of sales growth that is expected to turn into earnings and cash flow. A limitation of the P/S ratio is that the price component measures only stock market captialization, while sales are a function of the entire capital structure, potentially leading to wide differences between levered and unlevered companies.
Sodastream (Nasdaq:SODA) is currently trading at a share price of $37.72, a 3.7% decline. The company is currently trading a volume of 359,049 shares. If a stock is trading on low volume, then there is not much interest in the stock. On the other hand, if a stock is trading on high volume, then there is a lot of interest in the stock. When estimating the value of a particular investment, valuation ratios provide a good basis for assessing the value of an individual stock. The debt ratio gives users a quick measure of the amount of debt that the company has on its balance sheets compared to its assets. SODA has a low debt ratio of 29.6%. A low debt ratio means the company has more available cash flow. However, one thing to note with this ratio: it isn't a pure measure of a company's debt (or indebtedness), as it also includes operational liabilities, such as accounts payable and taxes payable.
At $112.75, Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU) has slipped 3.5%. At 3.3 million shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.6 times the average volume over the last three months. Price change alone is not enough to know how a stock is doing. Volume is an important secondary indicator used to confirm trends suggested by price movement. Investment valuation ratios can be very useful in estimating whether a stock price is too high, reasonable or a bargain investment opportunity. The assumption with high price/earnings stocks (generally of the growth variety) is that investors are willing to buy at a high price because they believe that the stock has significant growth potential, and the price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio helps investors determine the degree of reliability of that growth assumption. PEG ratio for BIDU is 1.01. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.
After rising 3.4%, Netflix (Nasdaq:NFLX) is currently trading at a share price of $56.31. So far today, 1.9 million shares of the company's stock have changed hands. If a stock price moves on high volume, this means that the change is a significant one. It is important for an investor to estimate the value of any potential or existing investment; valuation ratios make this easier. The capitalization ratio is calculated by dividing long-term debt by the sum of long-term debt and shareholders' equity. The capitalization ratio for NFLX is 36.8%. Prudent use of leverage (debt) increases the financial resources available to a company for growth and expansion.
The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.
The biggest movers traded on the NASDAQ so far are:
| Company | Market Cap | Percentage Change |
| Ceradyne (Nasdaq:CRDN) | $591.2 million | +42.9% |
| Haynes International (Nasdaq:HAYN) | $640.8 million | +4.9% |
| Strayer Education (Nasdaq:STRA) | $764.1 million | +4.5% |
| Splunk (Nasdaq:SPLK) | $3.55 billion | -3.8% |
| Sodastream (Nasdaq:SODA) | $789 million | -3.7% |
| Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU) | $40.84 billion | -3.5% |
| Netflix (Nasdaq:NFLX) | $3.02 billion | +3.4% |
After a big jump of 42.9%, Ceradyne (Nasdaq:CRDN) is trading at $34.92 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 11.3 million shares. Volume indicates the level of interest that investors have in a company at its current price. Investors can make use of valuation ratios to estimate whether a stock is fairly valued. A company's price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) provides a measure of how expensive or cheap a stock is. CRDN has a P/E ratio of 11.5, high compared to the industry average of 7.59. Usually, if a stock has a high P/E ratio, it indicates that the market expects the company to grow earnings quickly in the future. From the investor's perspective, a stock with a lower ratio is relatively cheaper than a stock with a higher ratio. SEE: How To Find P/E And PEG Ratios
Rising 4.9%, Haynes International (Nasdaq:HAYN) is currently trading at $54.71 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 13,985 shares, 0.2 times its average over the past three months. A stock's volume conveys how excited investors are about it. A company's investment value can be estimated using valuation ratios such as the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. The price/book value ratio is one of the more common methods of determining whether a stock is fairly valued. The P/B ratio for HAYN is 2.2, indicating that the stock is trading for more than its book value. This high share price relative to asset value is likely to indicate that the company has been earning a very high return on its assets. All else being equal, a stock with a low P/B value ratio is more attractive than a stock with a high ratio. SEE: How Buybacks Warps The Price-To-Book Ratio
Strayer Education (Nasdaq:STRA) is currently trading at $67.25 per share, a 4.5% increase. So far today, the company's volume is 53,143 shares. This is about the same trading activity as there was yesterday. Volume is an important indicator in technical analysis as it is used to measure the worth of a market move. If the markets have made a strong price move either up or down the perceived strength of that move depends on the volume for that period. The higher the volume during that price move the more significant the move. Looking at a company's valuation ratios is a good way of getting a basic idea as to its value as an investment. Dividend yield measures the income that a stock will generate for an investor. STRA's dividend yield is 6.2%. Simply comparing the level of dividends that two stocks pay does not give a true reflection of which security is more attractive, so investors calculate the dividend yield in order to standardize dividend payments. SEE: Due Diligence On Dividends
Currently trading at $35.31 per share, Splunk (Nasdaq:SPLK) has fallen 3.8%. The company's volume is currently 311,541 shares for the day, 0.4 times the current daily average. In technical analysis, trading volume is used to determine the strength of a market indicator. Valuation ratios include the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. The price/sales ratio measures a company's stock market value by its total revenues or alternatively, a company's price per share by its revenue per share. The P/S ratio for SPLK is a high 22.62. In young companies, a high P/S ratio is a sign of sales growth that is expected to turn into earnings and cash flow. A limitation of the P/S ratio is that the price component measures only stock market captialization, while sales are a function of the entire capital structure, potentially leading to wide differences between levered and unlevered companies.
Sodastream (Nasdaq:SODA) is currently trading at a share price of $37.72, a 3.7% decline. The company is currently trading a volume of 359,049 shares. If a stock is trading on low volume, then there is not much interest in the stock. On the other hand, if a stock is trading on high volume, then there is a lot of interest in the stock. When estimating the value of a particular investment, valuation ratios provide a good basis for assessing the value of an individual stock. The debt ratio gives users a quick measure of the amount of debt that the company has on its balance sheets compared to its assets. SODA has a low debt ratio of 29.6%. A low debt ratio means the company has more available cash flow. However, one thing to note with this ratio: it isn't a pure measure of a company's debt (or indebtedness), as it also includes operational liabilities, such as accounts payable and taxes payable.
At $112.75, Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU) has slipped 3.5%. At 3.3 million shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.6 times the average volume over the last three months. Price change alone is not enough to know how a stock is doing. Volume is an important secondary indicator used to confirm trends suggested by price movement. Investment valuation ratios can be very useful in estimating whether a stock price is too high, reasonable or a bargain investment opportunity. The assumption with high price/earnings stocks (generally of the growth variety) is that investors are willing to buy at a high price because they believe that the stock has significant growth potential, and the price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio helps investors determine the degree of reliability of that growth assumption. PEG ratio for BIDU is 1.01. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.
After rising 3.4%, Netflix (Nasdaq:NFLX) is currently trading at a share price of $56.31. So far today, 1.9 million shares of the company's stock have changed hands. If a stock price moves on high volume, this means that the change is a significant one. It is important for an investor to estimate the value of any potential or existing investment; valuation ratios make this easier. The capitalization ratio is calculated by dividing long-term debt by the sum of long-term debt and shareholders' equity. The capitalization ratio for NFLX is 36.8%. Prudent use of leverage (debt) increases the financial resources available to a company for growth and expansion.
The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.
by
Investopedia Staff
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