Free Annual Reports
Big Movers on the Nasdaq Today: CPHD and More
The market is off to a rough start. After this morning's trading, the Nasdaq has slipped 0.7%, the S&P 500 is down 0.7% and the Dow is trading down 0.8%. The recent surge in popularity of technological stocks has launched the Nasdaq Composite Index into the spotlight, making it one of the premier indexes in the world.
The biggest movers traded on the NASDAQ so far are:
Forex Broker Summary: Forex Capital Markets (FXCM)
Shares of Cepheid (Nasdaq:CPHD) are currently trading at $34.56, a steep decline of 21%. So far today, the company's volume is 4.9 million shares, above yesterday's volume of 700,960 shares. If a stock price makes a big move up or down, volume lets us know the significance of that move. 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. If the price/book value ratio of a stock is high, it may indicate that the stock is expensive, while a lower ratio may indicate that the stock is a bargain. The P/B ratio for CPHD is 9.79, indicating that the stock is trading for more than its book value. It is important to take the company's debt into account when using the P/B ratio as debt can boost a company's liabilities to the point where they wipe out much of the book value of its hard assets, creating artificially high P/B values. P/B has its shortcomings but is still widely used as a valuation metric, more relevant for use by investors looking at capital-intensive or finance-related businesses, such as banks; book value does not carry much meaning for service-based firms with few tangible assets. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Book Value Ratio
Universal Forest Products (Nasdaq:UFPI) is currently trading at $34.19 per share, after a steep drop of 15.5%. So far today, 238,154 shares have changed hands. This is 2.5 times the average volume over the last three months. 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. Investment valuation ratios can be very useful in estimating whether a stock price is too high, reasonable or a bargain investment opportunity. Dividend yield measures the income that a stock will generate for an investor. The dividend yield for UFPI is 1%, which is on the low end. A company with a low dividend yield may be a safer investment in the long run. For income-oriented investors such as retirees, a stock with a high dividend yield may be more attractive than a stock with a low dividend yield. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Dividend Yield
After a big jump of 13.4%, SanDisk (Nasdaq:SNDK) is trading at $39.77 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 13.6 million shares. 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. Investment valuation ratios provide investors with an estimation, albeit a simplistic one, of the value of a stock. A price/sales ratio is derived by dividing stock market price by company sales. SNDK has a high P/S ratio of 2.16. This could be a good sign if the share price increases. It is important to compare P/S ratios for companies in the same industry, as ratios can vary quite widely for companies in different industries.
After a precipitous drop of 13.2%, Acacia (Nasdaq:ACTG) is now trading at a share price of $34.52. The company's volume is currently 1.4 million shares for the day, five times the average daily volume. If a stock price moves on high volume, this means that the change is a significant one. A company's value as an investment is more easily 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 debt ratio measures the leverage of a company, and a company's leverage is a good way to assess risk. ACTG has a debt ratio of 8.4%, which is fairly low. In other words, the company is less sensitive to changes in business or interest rates since less of its cash flow is dedicated to paying off loan expenses. As with all financial ratios, a company's debt ratio should be compared with the industry average or similar companies.
After an increase of 9.3%, athenahealth (Nasdaq:ATHN) has reached a current price of $95.32. So far today, the company's volume is 1.1 million shares. Yesterday, volume was only 917,933 shares. Volume is used to evaluate how meaningful the price movement of a stock is. In making a decision about a potential or existing investment, valuation ratios are useful as a basis for seeing whether the stock price is too high, reasonable, or a bargain. There are generally two price/earnings ratios calculated: the first, called the trailing Price/Earnings ratio, is calculated using the previous years actual earnings; the second, called forward Price/Earnings ratio, is calculated using the next year's estimated earnings. ATHN has a P/E ratio of 173.3, high compared to the industry average of 32.81. A company with a high P/E ratio will eventually have to live up to the high rating by substantially increasing its earnings, or the price will need to drop. A high or low P/E ratio is not good or bad in and of itself, but a company trading with a high P/E ratio must continue to post strong financial performance or its stock price is likely to fall. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Earnings Ratio
Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq:ISRG) is currently trading at a share price of $498.68, a 8.4% decline. So far today, the company's volume is 816,564 shares, 2.7 times the current three-month average. When a stock price moves up or down, watching the volume is a good way of identifying how significant that shift is. Valuation ratios like 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 are useful in determining how attractive a potential or existing investment is. The price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio is calculated by dividing the price/earnings ratio by growth in earnings-per-share; the lower the PEG ratio, the more reasonably valued the security. ISRG has a PEG ratio of 2.12, which is consistent with the industry average. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.
Forward (Nasdaq:FWRD) has moved up 7.4% and is currently trading at $34.29 per share. So far today, 67,806 shares have changed hands. The trading volume for a stock indicates the level of investor interest. Investors can make use of valuation ratios to estimate whether a stock is fairly valued. The price/book value ratio is especially important for value investors as it can provide an indication of the true value of a company's assets at a time when its business model may be failing. FWRD has a P/B ratio of 3.27 which shows that its share price is higher than its book value. This implies that investors expect management to create more value from a given set of assets and/or that the market value of the firm's assets is significantly higher than their accounting value. A weakness of the P/B value ratio is that while the price component is easily determined by looking at the stock quote, the book value component is more difficult to estimate and more open to individual interpretation and analysis. SEE: How Buybacks Warps The Price-To-Book Ratio
The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. Tools like valuation ratios and profit margins, however, are only as useful as the context you put them in; remember to take historical data and competitor performance into account.
The biggest movers traded on the NASDAQ so far are:
| Company | Market Cap | Percentage Change |
| Cepheid (Nasdaq:CPHD) | $2.87 billion | -21% |
| Universal Forest Products, Inc. (Nasdaq:UFPI) | $797.3 million | -15.5% |
| SanDisk (Nasdaq:SNDK) | $8.55 billion | +13.4% |
| Acacia Research Corporation (Nasdaq:ACTG) | $1.98 billion | -13.2% |
| athenahealth, Inc (Nasdaq:ATHN) | $3.12 billion | +9.3% |
| Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq:ISRG) | $21.61 billion | -8.4% |
| Forward Air Corporation (Nasdaq:FWRD) | $929 million | +7.4% |
Shares of Cepheid (Nasdaq:CPHD) are currently trading at $34.56, a steep decline of 21%. So far today, the company's volume is 4.9 million shares, above yesterday's volume of 700,960 shares. If a stock price makes a big move up or down, volume lets us know the significance of that move. 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. If the price/book value ratio of a stock is high, it may indicate that the stock is expensive, while a lower ratio may indicate that the stock is a bargain. The P/B ratio for CPHD is 9.79, indicating that the stock is trading for more than its book value. It is important to take the company's debt into account when using the P/B ratio as debt can boost a company's liabilities to the point where they wipe out much of the book value of its hard assets, creating artificially high P/B values. P/B has its shortcomings but is still widely used as a valuation metric, more relevant for use by investors looking at capital-intensive or finance-related businesses, such as banks; book value does not carry much meaning for service-based firms with few tangible assets. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Book Value Ratio
Universal Forest Products (Nasdaq:UFPI) is currently trading at $34.19 per share, after a steep drop of 15.5%. So far today, 238,154 shares have changed hands. This is 2.5 times the average volume over the last three months. 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. Investment valuation ratios can be very useful in estimating whether a stock price is too high, reasonable or a bargain investment opportunity. Dividend yield measures the income that a stock will generate for an investor. The dividend yield for UFPI is 1%, which is on the low end. A company with a low dividend yield may be a safer investment in the long run. For income-oriented investors such as retirees, a stock with a high dividend yield may be more attractive than a stock with a low dividend yield. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Dividend Yield
After a big jump of 13.4%, SanDisk (Nasdaq:SNDK) is trading at $39.77 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 13.6 million shares. 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. Investment valuation ratios provide investors with an estimation, albeit a simplistic one, of the value of a stock. A price/sales ratio is derived by dividing stock market price by company sales. SNDK has a high P/S ratio of 2.16. This could be a good sign if the share price increases. It is important to compare P/S ratios for companies in the same industry, as ratios can vary quite widely for companies in different industries.
After an increase of 9.3%, athenahealth (Nasdaq:ATHN) has reached a current price of $95.32. So far today, the company's volume is 1.1 million shares. Yesterday, volume was only 917,933 shares. Volume is used to evaluate how meaningful the price movement of a stock is. In making a decision about a potential or existing investment, valuation ratios are useful as a basis for seeing whether the stock price is too high, reasonable, or a bargain. There are generally two price/earnings ratios calculated: the first, called the trailing Price/Earnings ratio, is calculated using the previous years actual earnings; the second, called forward Price/Earnings ratio, is calculated using the next year's estimated earnings. ATHN has a P/E ratio of 173.3, high compared to the industry average of 32.81. A company with a high P/E ratio will eventually have to live up to the high rating by substantially increasing its earnings, or the price will need to drop. A high or low P/E ratio is not good or bad in and of itself, but a company trading with a high P/E ratio must continue to post strong financial performance or its stock price is likely to fall. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Earnings Ratio
Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq:ISRG) is currently trading at a share price of $498.68, a 8.4% decline. So far today, the company's volume is 816,564 shares, 2.7 times the current three-month average. When a stock price moves up or down, watching the volume is a good way of identifying how significant that shift is. Valuation ratios like 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 are useful in determining how attractive a potential or existing investment is. The price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio is calculated by dividing the price/earnings ratio by growth in earnings-per-share; the lower the PEG ratio, the more reasonably valued the security. ISRG has a PEG ratio of 2.12, which is consistent with the industry average. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.
Forward (Nasdaq:FWRD) has moved up 7.4% and is currently trading at $34.29 per share. So far today, 67,806 shares have changed hands. The trading volume for a stock indicates the level of investor interest. Investors can make use of valuation ratios to estimate whether a stock is fairly valued. The price/book value ratio is especially important for value investors as it can provide an indication of the true value of a company's assets at a time when its business model may be failing. FWRD has a P/B ratio of 3.27 which shows that its share price is higher than its book value. This implies that investors expect management to create more value from a given set of assets and/or that the market value of the firm's assets is significantly higher than their accounting value. A weakness of the P/B value ratio is that while the price component is easily determined by looking at the stock quote, the book value component is more difficult to estimate and more open to individual interpretation and analysis. SEE: How Buybacks Warps The Price-To-Book Ratio
The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. Tools like valuation ratios and profit margins, however, are only as useful as the context you put them in; remember to take historical data and competitor performance into account.
by
Investopedia Staff
Investopedia.com believes that individuals can excel at managing their financial affairs. As such, we strive to provide free educational content and tools to empower individual investors, including thousands of original and objective articles and tutorials on a wide variety of financial topics.
Free Annual Reports
