Zilog, Inc. (ZILG): Buzz Stock of the Day

Shares of microcontroller supplier, Zilog, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZILG) were up as much as 19 percent in morning trading on Monday after it was announced that the company would be acquired by semiconductor maker IXYS for $3.5858 per share in cash, or approximately $62.4 million.

"The price that IXYS is proposing to pay is a premium to our current stock price, as well as a substantial premium to the average of the prices at which we've traded throughout 2009," said Darin Billerbeck, Zilog's president and CEO in a statement.

In addition to expanding market opportunities, the acquisition will allow the two companies to pool R&D resources, leverage economies of scale, reduce manufacturing costs and streamline and integrate operational and support costs.

Dataram Inc. (Nasdaq: DRAM) Buzz Stock of the Day

Shares of Dataram, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRAM) increased nearly 28 percent in trading Tuesday, touching on a high of $5.49. Volume topped 3.3 million shares, compared to the 50-day average daily volume of 183,000, according to the Nasdaq.



The stock appears to be moving on technicals, in the absence of any company-specific news; volume and momentum have continually increased. Since the beginning of August, shares of Dataram are up 260%.

Dataram, a worldwide leader in the manufacture of high-quality computer memory, storage products and software, attributes the steady climb in stock prices to increasing interest in solid-state storage products.

Solid-state storage is quickly becoming an attractive alternative to traditional hard disk drive in many IT infrastructures. Leveraging the benefits of solid-state storage in a dedicated appliance is a smart move for businesses, enabling companies to improve application performance, leverage existing IT investments and cut costs.

Dataram’s Chief Technologist Jason Caulkins stated, “In a world of increasing data, higher-volume transactions and tighter budgets, IT departments should definitely evaluate solid-state solutions that maximize performance while minimizing cost. Solid-state storage appliances offer customers significant benefits due to their ability to seamlessly integrate into existing SANs, dynamically cache I/O-intensive data, dramatically accelerate application performance and provide an immediate return on investment.”

The New Jersey-based Dataram was founded in 1967 and specializes in high-quality computer memory, IT infrastructure optimization, maximum application performance and substantial cost savings. Dataram solutions are deployed in 70 Fortune 100 companies and in mission-critical government and defense applications around the world.

ARCA Biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABIO) Buzz Stock of the Day

Shares of ARCA Biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ABIO) surged more than 87 percent in trading Monday after the company announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given the company fast-track designation for its experimental drug Gencaro, a treatment for chronic heart failure.
The news Monday skyrocketed the shares to a high of $4.50 and ARCA Biopharma topped the Biggest Percentage Price Gainers among common stocks on Nasdaq.

Gencaro, the ARCA’s investigational, pharmacologically-unique beta-blocker and mild vasodilator, is designed to reduce cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular hospitalizations in a genotype-defined heart failure population.

Michael R. Bristow, President and Chief Executive Officer of ARCA stated, “Fast Track designation for the Gencaro development program is an important acknowledgement of the need for advancements in the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure, a disease afflicting approximately 6 million people in the United States with approximately 550,000 new cases diagnosed each year.”

The FDA employs fast-track status is to expedite the review of drugs to treat serious diseases and fill unmet medical needs. ARCA plans to submit a study protocol to the USFDA under the administration’s Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) during the fourth quarter of 2009. ARCA expects to commence clinical trials in late 2010 or the first half of 2011 to assess the safety and efficacy of Gencaro in approximately 3,000 patients with chronic heart failure who have the genotype that appears to respond most favorably to Gencaro.

Bristow continued, “If the SPA is approved by the FDA and the Company is able to obtain financing, this proposed clinical trial would be the first full sized cardiovascular trial performed in a genetically defined subpopulation to predict efficacy enhancement by the tested drug. As such, the proposed trial would be a landmark undertaking in pharmacogenetic drug development.”

ARCA biopharma began operations in 2005 and is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. ARCA is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing genetically targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases.

Semitool, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMTL) Buzz Stock of the Day

Semitool, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMTL) shares soared Tuesday after Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Semitool for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $364 million in an all-cash tender offer based on the fully diluted capitalization of the company.

“As part of Applied Materials, we can accelerate the global adoption of the technologies Semitool has developed,” said Ray Thompson, chairman of Semitool. “With this agreement, we are providing our employees with a strong future and our stockholders with exceptional value.”

The announcement sent Semitool shares up over 30 percent to the to nearly the $11-a-share buyout price, which is a 31 percent premium above Semitool's Monday closing price of $8.40. Applied Materials was trading down 1.5 percent Tuesday after the deal was announced. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, and Applied forecasts the purchase of Semitool to add value to the company’s bottom line within two years.

Semitool, which is based in Kalispell, Montana, supplies electrochemical plating and wafer surface preparation equipment used by chip-packaging and chip-making companies. It will be operated as a unit of Applied's Silicon Systems Group.

Mike Splinter, chief executive of Applied Materials, said in a statement Tuesday, "The semiconductor industry recovery is being fueled by global demand for mobile devices such as smartphones, notebook PCs and portable media players for music, gaming and books."

Applied Materials, the world’s largest tool provider for the semiconductor industry, said the purchase will make it the leader in "advanced packaging and the memory industry's conversion to copper," which the company said are two of the faster-growing segments of the semiconductor business. Additionally, the acquisition will allow Applied to produce smaller and more adept microchips.

Splinter continued, "With this acquisition, Applied will help the world's leading chipmakers create ever-smaller and more powerful devices."

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, Semitool posted a net loss of $11.4 million, or 35 cents per share, versus net income of $6 million, or 19 cents per share, last year. Revenue dropped 42 percent to $139 million.

The Semitool purchase is the second of the month for Applied after acquiring substantially all of the assets of Advent Solar Inc. for an undisclosed cash amount on Nov. 6. The Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Advent Solar develops technology for crystalline silicon photovoltaics.

Although many analysts have praised the deal as “a good fit” and “a great acquisition for Applied,” the deal is not without controversy given that Levi & Korsinsky is investigating the Board of Directors of Semitool for possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law in connection with their attempt to sell the company to Applied Materials, Inc.

The investigation concerns whether the Semitool Board of Directors breached their fiduciary duties to Semitool shareholders for the following reasons: the offer price is only a 13% premium over the $9.73 price that Semitool shares traded at as recently as October 12, 2009; furthermore, analysts set a mean price target of $12.00 for Semitool shares; and, finally, directors and executive officers of Semitool holding about 32% of the Company's outstanding common stock have agreed to support the deal.

Netlist, Inc. (Nasdaq: NLST) Buzz Stock of the Day

Shares of Netlist, Inc. (Nasdaq: NLST) were up as much as 53 percent in morning trading Monday after the company said it will introduce HyperCloud, the first 16-gigabyte, 2 vRank memory module for computer servers at the Supercomputing 2009 conference. According to Nasdaq, the 50-day average daily volume for Netlist is 368,000, on Monday, the volume reached 14,751,125.

The Irvine, California-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of memory subsystems primarily for the server, high-performance computing and communications markets, will be demonstrating the world's first 16GB 2 virtual rank (vRank) double-data-rate three, registered dual in-line memory module (DDR3 RDIMM), HyperCloud(TM) at the Supercomputing trade-show, taking place in Portland, Oregon during November 17-19, 2009.

Netlist will also showcase the interoperability of HyperCloud memory with standard JEDEC server memory solutions on popular enterprise servers. This demonstration reinforces HyperCloud's ability to function as a standard RDIMM while increasing memory bandwidth and capacity for datacenter servers.

"This technology maximizes server utilization with a simple plug-and-play memory module," said Paul Duran, director of business development at Netlist. "HyperCloud enables high-performance cloud computing while reducing datacenter costs and increasing application performance."

To showcase its 2-vRank HyperCloud modules, Netlist is using industry standard servers, such as the HP ProLiant DL380, demonstrated in the following configurations: 8GB and 16GB 2 vRank DDR3 RDIMM functionality, Three 2 vRank modules per channel, 1333 Mega Transfers per second (MT/s), Interoperability with standard JEDEC DDR3 modules, Interoperability with different RDIMM capacities.

"Customers running memory intensive computing environments, such as virtualization, cloud computing, and HPC applications, are often limited by memory bottlenecks in their servers," said Mike Gill, vice president, Industry Standard Servers Platform Engineering at HP. "The Netlist technology on HP industry-standard servers increases server memory capacity and bandwidth to enhance application performance in converged infrastructures."

Netlist was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Irvine, California with manufacturing facilities in Suzhou, People's Republic of China. The Company's memory subsystems are developed for applications in which high-speed, high-capacity memory, enhanced functionality, small form factor, and heat dissipation are key requirements. These applications include tower-servers, rack-mounted servers, blade servers, high-performance computing clusters, engineering workstations, and telecommunication equipment.

3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) Buzz Stock of the Day

Network equipment maker 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) jumped 32 percent in trading Thursday, after Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) announced Wednesday it has agreed to purchase the company for $2.7 billion in cash. The announcement boosted shares to a 52-week high of $7.52, topping the list of Biggest Percentage Price Gainers among common stocks on Nasdaq.
The 3Com transaction, approved by the companies' boards, is expected to be completed during the first half of 2010. The deal values 3Com’s stock at $7.90 per share, which represents a 39% premium over 3Com shares' Wednesday closing price of $5.69.

Bob Mao, CEO of 3Com, said in a statement Wednesday, “Our extensive product line and innovative technology together with HP’s breadth and scale will expand our global opportunity.”

Hewlett-Packard’s acquisition of 3Com was taken as a call to battle against Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO). Although HP is growing business in computer networking, the 3Com acquisition doesn't even put it close to Cisco in market share.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard expects 3Com will help expand its offerings of products such as Ethernet switches and network routers, as well as increase its position in the Chinese market. 3Com also sells enterprise technology products such as Voice over IP gateways, wireless LAN access equipment, video surveillance, network management software, and security solutions. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong and has a strong foothold in China, with more than 30% of enterprise networking market.

Mao continued, “3Com’s networking products are based on a modern architecture which has been designed to offer better performance, require less power and eliminate administrative complexity when compared against current network offerings. Our products are enterprise proven and widely deployed in the world’s largest banks, manufacturers, Internet service providers, public utilities and retailers.”

3Com Corporation is a $1.3 billion global enterprise networking solutions provider that sets a new price-performance standard for customers. 3Com has three global brands – H3C, 3Com and TippingPoint – that offer high-performance networking and security solutions to enterprises large and small. The H3C enterprise networking portfolio – a market leader in China – includes products that span from the data center to the edge of the network, while TippingPoint network-based intrusion prevention systems and network access control solutions deliver in-depth, no-compromise application, infrastructure and performance protection.

Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSII) Buzz Stock of the Day

Shares of Cardiovascular Systems, Inc (CSI) have been steadily rising in the week following the Company’s announcement of promising financials for the first quarter fiscal 2010 ended September 30, 2009.

CSI increased revenue 30 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, to $15.2 million compared to revenue of $11.6 million for the same quarter of the previous year. Likewise, CSI’s net loss improved 55 percent to $(6.2) million, or $(0.43) per basic and diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, from $(13.7) million, or $(2.75) per basic and diluted share, for the same quarter 2009.

David L. Martin, CSI president and chief executive officer, said, “Balancing revenue growth with effective expense management helped drive a substantial reduction in our loss from the fiscal 2009 first quarter, moving CSI toward our goal of profitability.”

The number of weighted average common shares outstanding increased to 14.5 million from 5.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, primarily due to new shares issued in conjunction with the February 2009 reverse merger with Replidyne, Inc., including the conversion of all preferred stock of the company to common stock.

Additionally, the fiscal first-quarter 2010 gross margin increased to 77 percent from 67 percent in the same period last year, driven by higher disposable volumes, manufacturing efficiencies, product cost reductions and shipment of fewer controller units. Operating expenses decreased 18 percent, due to effective expense management, the year-earlier write-off of $1.7 million in IPO costs, and completion and timing of development projects and clinical studies.

Adjusted EBITDA, calculated as loss from operations, less depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation expense, improved by 70 percent to a loss of $(3.6) million versus a loss of $(11.8) million in the year-ago period. Cash and cash equivalents remained strong at $30.8 million and included $3.0 million of net funding received in conjunction with signing an agreement to establish a second production facility in Pearland, Texas.

Martin continued, “During the quarter, we focused on driving adoption in existing accounts, including re-educating physicians on proper clinical protocols for using the Diamondback 360° to change lesion compliance in vessels above the knee. As a result, we are seeing greater product usage in many accounts. These improvements were offset by seasonal weakness in endovascular procedures, resulting in revenue slightly below our expected range.”

The number of hospitals using the Diamondback 360® PAD System rose to 611 by the end of the fiscal 2010 first quarter, a nearly 90-percent increase over a year ago and 55 more than the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009. Sales of disposable device units totaled 4,541 units in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 versus 3,636 units in the first quarter of last fiscal year, a 25-percent increase. Revenue generated from customer reorders continued to grow, increasing to 92 percent of total revenue for the fiscal 2010 first quarter from 72 percent in last year’s first quarter.

Onstream Media Corporation (Nasdaq: ONSM) Buzz Stock of the Day

Shares of video services provider, Onstream Media Corp. (Nasdaq: ONSM) were up almost 28 percent today after the company announced several new contracts with federal government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service and the Housing Department.

"Our business relationships with various federal and state governments have never been stronger," said Randy Selman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Onstream Media in a statement. "As demand for our multi-media web communication products and services continues to increase on the commercial side of our business, we're also pleased to report continued growth in the government sector, which we expect to continue to rise in the years to come."

Onstream Media announced that it will provide its comprehensive Digital Media Services Platform (DMSP) and live and on-demand webcasting services for ongoing education and targeted outreach delivery services for the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS will use Onstream Media's technology to communicate important tax information to tax professionals, small businesses, and self-employed taxpayers in more dynamic, web-friendly and innovative formats such as podcasts, webinars, live broadcasts or other forms of web-based media.

Additionally, the company announced an agreement with strategic partner REJ & Associates, Inc. to provide Webinar services to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Philadelphia Homeownership Center (HOC).

Onstream Media is also subcontracted to provide audio-based web conferencing services that enable FHA to bring employees and other participants from around the country together for online workshops, seminars and trainings. REJ & Associates, Inc. is a leading provider of integrated marketing and communications services based in Baltimore, MD.

Lastly, the NRC has exercised its first one year option to renew and extend its multi-year agreement with Onstream Media to provide ongoing webcasting, streaming media and multi-media services. The company began providing the NRC with its webcasting services in March, 2008.

MOD-PAC Corp. (Nasdaq: MPAC) Buzz Stock of the Day

Paper products maker, MOD-PAC Corp. (Nasdaq: MPAC) reported a sharp increase in third quarter profit driven by cost restructuring initiatives to improve operating leverage, and increases in the company’s folding carton sales and custom folding carton sales, offset by lower stock packaging and print service sales.

For the quarter ended October 3, MOD-PAC reported profit of $1.01 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with profit of $14,000 and flat EPS in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the quarter decreased to $12.59 million, from $12.64 million a year ago.

“Our custom folding carton sales have grown exceptionally well,” said MOD-PAC’s president and chief executive officer, Daniel Keane in a statement. “Many of our customers produce private label products for the consumer staples market. Consumers in this economic environment are highly cost conscious and tend to buy more store brands which drives sales for our customers. Importantly, as our customers are realizing stronger sales, we are also capturing a greater percentage of their business and adding new accounts.”

Sales of folding cartons, which include custom folding cartons and stock packaging, were up 11.2 percent, or $1.18 million, to $11.65 million in the 2009 third quarter from $10.47 million in the prior year third quarter. Custom folding carton sales drove the product line increase. Custom folding carton sales for the third quarter of 2009 were $9.41 million, up $1.21 million, or 14.8 percent, from 2008 third quarter sales of $8.19 million. Greater sales from two large existing customers and the addition of one new customer, more than offset reduced sales from customers impacted by the economy and decreased waste sales due to a drop in the recycled paperboard market.

Gross profit for the 2009 third quarter was $2.52 million, or 20 percent of total revenue, compared with gross profit of $1.98 million, or 15.6 percent of total revenue, in the same period a year earlier.

Shares of MOD-PAC surged 73 percent touching on a high of $4.25 after the Company announced third-quarter earnings of 29 cents a share on revenue of $12.6 million.

Diedrich Coffee Inc (Nasdaq: DDRX) Buzz Stock of the Day

Shares of Diedrich Coffee (Nasdaq: DDRX) spiked nearly 27 percent on Tuesday after Peet’s Coffee and Tea (Nasdaq: PEET) announced it will acquire the wholesale coffee roaster and distributor for $213 million.

Peet’s will pay in cash and stock for Diedrich, with the $26 per share price representing a nearly 28 percent premium to the stock's Monday close of $20.36. For each Diedrich share, Peet's will pay $17.33 in cash and a fraction of a Peet's share valued at about $8.67.

Peet's said it will pay for Diedrich with a combination of cash and $140 million in debt. The purchase, which is expected to close by the end of this year, will dilute 2010 earnings but should add to profit after that.

“The Diedrich acquisition represents another major strategic growth initiative for our consumer packaged coffee business, by entering and driving adoption of the single cup segment through Diedrichs high-growth K-Cup business," said Peet's President and CEO Patrick O'Dea, in a statement.

Peet’s is acquiring Diedrich to enter the quickly growing single-cup coffee market. Diedrich, whose share price hit a 52-week low of $0.21 has rebounded remarkably on the back of popular K-Cup single serve coffee packs, through a licensing agreement with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR).

Diedrich’s Chairman, Paul Heeschen, along with other directors and executive officers representing more than 32 percent of the company’s shares agreed to tender their stock in the offer. The acquisition, which was unanimously approved by both company’s boards of directors, is still pending regulatory approval and other closing requirements.

Diedrich reported profit of $3 million on revenue of $20.1 million for its fiscal 2009 year, which ended in June. The company has forecast 2010 revenue of $90 million to $95 million. Last month, Peet's raised its 2009 profit guidance after reporting third-quarter earnings of $2.5 million on revenue of $73.9 million.