Manufacturing activity: down. August home sales: jump 6.4%. Jobless claims: rise. Construction spending: Up. This is the sort of good news, bad news that traders had to sort through at the open of today's markets and in the first hour, traders slightly leaned towards bearishness while Hoku Scientific (HOKU), Lawson Software (LWSN) and SeaChange (SEAC) all staged percentage gains in value .
Gaining 9.76% ($0.29) today is Hoku Scientific, Inc., (HOKU) http://www.hokucorp.com/ currently trading in the $3.25 range on the Nasdaq. HOKU has a new market cap of $68 million. HOKU has a 3-Month average daily trading balance of 208,011 shares and had easily passed 5 times that volume by mid-session topping 1,136,796 shares traded.� �
HOKU has undergone a lot of buzz and hype since its Tuesday's announcement when it announced that Tianwei New Energy Holdings (private) was coming to the financial rescue of HOKU in its continuing effort to build a large solar manufacturing facility in Pocatello, Idaho.
HOKU had slowed construction at the solar materials plant in July to preserve cash while it sought to raise capital, and the builder, JH Kelly, had filed a lien against HOKU for $12 million in past due payments. Last week, JH Kelly agreed to resume construction if Hoku paid $5 million and to not foreclose on the property if the rest is paid by January 14, 2010.
Enter Tianwei New Energy which makes silicon wafers and photovoltaic cells and systems. Tianwei has the cash to satisfy the builder and complete the HOKU project. The HOKU deal will convert $50 million of $79 million in secured prepayments by Tianwei to HOKU under supply agreements into HOKU stock and warrants. It also provides $50 million in debt financing, with the promise of helping secure more if needed. The deal that was struck included: HOKU issuing approximately 33.4 million new shares, which ! represen t 60% of its outstanding stock, and granting Tianwei warrants to buy an additional 10 million shares at $2.52 per share.
All of the HOKU funding will go the Idaho facility. The ultimate cost of the plant is estimated to be $390 million. The HOKU-Tianwei deal will close this month.
HOKU manufactures solar-grade polysilicon, which is used in photovoltaic (PV) modules; and design, engineering, and installation of turnkey PV systems and related services using solar modules purchased from third party suppliers. HOKU also designs, develops, and manufactures membranes, and membrane electrode assemblies for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
At $3.25, HOKU is below its 52-week high of $6.24 set on 10-02-08 and is above its 52-week low of $1.67 set on 07-14-09. At $3.25, HOKU is ahead of both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Since the outstanding shares, float and percentages of stock ownership are subject to change in the new few weeks, I've left the 'old' numbers out.
Gaining 6.41% ($0.40) this morning is Lawson Software Inc., (LWSN) http://www.lawson.com/ which is currently trading on the Nasdaq in the $6.65 range. Lawson has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 878,678 shares and it handily doubled that volume by mid-session surpassing 2,120,884 shares traded.
LWSN released its latest version (3.2) of the Lawson Talent Management Suite today with a wide range of new enhancements that include: Compensation Management, Performance Management, Talent Acquisition and Succession Management.
The LWSN suite is an integrated system combining core human resources applications with a leading Talent Management solution. This allows an organization to gain valuable insight into its workforce by delivering actionable information about employees that ties directly to the organization's business strategy. The LWSN suite also provides "bench streng! th" repo rting, which can help companies better understand the talent within their organization and align employee activities with broader business objectives.
Guidance
Today's announcement comes on the heels of the LWSN announcement yesterday that management forecasts the Company will earn up to 3 cents per share in its Q2 which ends November 30. Excluding one-time items, LWSN expects 7 cents to 9 cents per share. LWSN earned 3 cents per share, or 10 cents per share when excluding items, in the year-ago period. LWSN also gave guidance for revenue of $175 million to $180 million in Q2 which is lower than the $206.4 million it earned last year. LWSN management also noted the Company expects adjusted earnings for the full year will rise 8-10% percent over fiscal 2009.
LWSN offers a range of software applications and industry-specific solutions that help its customers in enhancing their business processes. Its software includes enterprise financial management, business intelligence, asset management, enterprise performance management, supply chain management, service management, manufacturing operations, business project management, and industry-tailored applications.
At $6.65, LWSN is pennies below its 52-week high of $7.03 set on 10-01-08 and is above its 52-week low of $2.71 set on 11-21-08. At $6.65, LWSN is ahead of both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. LWSN has trailing twelve month revenues of $757 million and a trailing twelve month diluted EPS of $0.11. LWSN is widely held by institutions. Its shares out versus float ratio is near-parity.
Gaining 5.07% ($0.38) this morning is SeaChange International Inc., (SEAC) http://www.schange.com/ which is currently trading on the Nasdaq in the $7.88 range. SEAC has a new market cap of $243 million. SEAC has a 3-Month average d! aily tra ding volume of 186,926 shares and it topped 302,996 shares traded by mid-session.
Yesterday, SEAC announced the Company had received multiple honors and awards for advancing Europe's television industry. SEAC is a key provider in Europe's on-demand television markets. SEAC garnered recognition from: Cable & Satellite Intl., the International Broadcasters Convention, and the Cable and Television Communications Association for Marketing in Europe. SEAC was also recognized for its advanced technologies in digital video by Virgin Media, OTE and 3UK.
"SeaChange companies are honored to receive this validation of the real value of their ongoing actions to innovate so Europe's service operators can continuously enhance and monetize video to any screen," said Simon McGrath, CMO, SeaChange.
SEAC manufactures, and markets digital video systems worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Software, Servers and Storage, and Media Services. SEAC was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts.
At $7.88, SEAC is below its 52-week high of $9.98 set on 08-10-09 and is above its 52-week low of $4.20 set on 03-06-09. At $7.88, SEAC is behind its 50-day moving average of $8.30 and ahead of its 200-day moving average of $7.49. SEAC has trailing twelve month revenues of $201 million. It also has a trailing twelve month diluted EPS of $0.28. SEAC is widely held by institutions. Its shares out versus float ratio is near-parity.
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