Friday, September 12, 2014

Last Week's Biggest Stock Movers: Going Bananas; Monster Gains

10 Best Solar Stocks To Watch For 2015

Ireland US Bananas Amy Sancetta/AP Plenty of stocks go up and down in any given week. The gainers inspire us to keep investing. The decliners keep greed in check while reminding us about the risks of the equity markets. Let's go over some of last week's best and worst performers. Chiquita Brands (CQB) -- Up 35 Percent Last Week Investors went bananas over Chiquita after it received -- and rejected -- a buyout offer. Cutrale and Safra offered an unsolicited offer to buy the banana giant at a price of $13 a share, representing a 29 percent premium to where Chiquita closed before bid was made public. Chiquita's board rejected the offer. The stock still moved higher -- above and beyond $13 -- on the possibility of Cutrale and Safra sweetening their bid. Monster Beverage (MNST) -- Up 34 Percent Last Week Soft drinks are out, and adrenaline-boosting energy drinks are in. Coca-Cola (KO) knows this, so it announced on Friday morning that it was buying a nearly 17 percent stake in Monster Beverage for $2.15 billion. Monster and Red Bull dominate this niche despite growing concerns about the health risks of young consumers taking in too many energy drinks. Monster's stock rallied on Friday. Investors may be hoping that Coca-Cola eventually swallows down all of Monster, but in the meantime it validates the beverage category. United Online (UNTD) -- Up 20 Percent Last Week It's possible to be at the right place at the right time but with the wrong approach. United Online hasn't been the market darling that it could have been given its ability to hop on to trends early. After all, it acquired alum-reuniting Classmates before social networking was hot. It built up NetZero when the country was just starting to migrate online. It also bought MyPoints from a legacy airline before the appeal of online coupons and loyalty clubs became popular. However, investors were rewarded last week when United Online posted preliminary quarterly results. Its bean counters are still trying to assess the bottom-line impact of an income tax issue, but it still managed to post revenue and free cash flow that exceeded its earlier guidance. Even given United Online's history of near misses and incomplete financials, that was enough to get rolling. SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS) -- Down 31 Percent Last Week The biggest loser on the New York Stock Exchange was SeaWorld, taking a dive after posting disappointing quarterly results. Revenue declined slightly, but analysts were expecting a gain. Profitability also fell short of expectations. SeaWorld has been struggling to draw park guests to its marine life parks under a cloud of controversy stemming from killer whales in captivity. SeaWorld tried to help soften the sting on Friday, announcing that it will build larger habitats for its killer whales, but the market still wasn't impressed. King Digital (KING) -- Down 30 Percent Last Week The mobile app developer behind Candy Crush Saga shed nearly a third of its value after posting problematic financial results. Gross bookings fell well short of forecasts, and it's the third quarter in a row that King's flagship "Candy Crush Saga: generated lower gross bookings sequentially. King has been successful in getting mobile gamers to play its other games, but it hasn't been enough to offset concerns about the sliding popularity of its main game. Noodles & Co. (NDLS) -- Down 21 Percent Last Week One of last year's hottest initial public offerings has been one of this year's biggest losers. Noodles & Co. slipped after coming up short in its latest quarter. The fast casual chain that serves up a wide array of pasta dishes -- from pad thai to mac and cheese -- saw is comparable restaurant sales and adjusted earnings decline over the prior year's quarter. Last year's shiny debutante may have more than doubled the day that it went public, but Noodles & Co. has lost more than 40 percent of its value in 2014. More from Rick Aristotle Munarriz
•Wall Street This Week: Check Out Retailers, New Stats •It's Going to Be a Long Way Back for J.C. Penney •This Week's Winners and Losers: Monster Deals, Cisco Reels

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