Why Cirrus Logic, Riverbed Technology and Opko Health Are 3 of Today’s Best Stocks

Advertisement

Markets were shaken again Monday by yet another drop in the price of oil. Crude oil stumbled all the way down to $55.18 after OPEC said it still won’t cut oil production — even with recent declines and fears of lower demand and higher supply choking the market.

Why Cirrus Logic, Riverbed Technology and Opko Health Are 3 of Today's Best StocksThe Dow Jones Industrial Average saw price gyrations of over 100 points throughout the day and ended the day down 0.58%, while the S&P 500 was off 0.64%, and the Nasdaq lost 1.04%. Once again, there were no major sectors in the green today. Still, some stocks managed to have strong showings today, among them Cirrus Logic, Inc. (CRUS), Riverbed Technology, Inc. (RVBD) and Opko Health Inc. (OPK).

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (CRUS)

Cirrus was one of the biggest winners of the day, scorching up almost 22% on Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis’ upgrade of CRUS stock from “underweight” to “overweight,” and setting a new $28 price target. The reason for the optimism was a likely price rise for Cirrus’ next generation of chips for the assumed “6S” model of the Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone. Curtis also said CRUS could win new business from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (SSNLF) for its new Galaxy S6 phone. Curtis also raised his EPS estimates for both the remainder of 2014 and all of 2015.

CRUS stock had recently fallen from $24.50 to $17 before rebounding in December. The stock closed today at $22.98.

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (RVBD)

RVBD stock gapped higher by more than 8% today amid word that it will be taken private by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, LLC and a Canadian teacher’s pension fund. Those two entities combined will pay about $3.6 billion for RVBD, and stockholders will receive $21 in cash from them for each share. This comes on the heels of a decision by the RVBD board last October to review ways to enhance shareholder value while severely cutting company costs.

Opko Health Inc. (OPK)

OPK stock gained more than 8% on heavy volume of 10.3 million shares, following an announcement of an agreement with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to develop and commercialize a once weekly growth hormone product called hGH-CTP for growth hormone deficiencies in both children and adults. Under the terms of the agreement, OPK will receive $295 million up front and will be eligible for another $275 million down the road if the new treatment receives regulatory approval. OPK will handle the clinical and development activities, while PFE will handle the commercialization portion of the partnership.

Today’s activity pushed OPK above both its 50- and 200-day moving averages.

As of this writing, Ethan Roberts did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2014/12/cirrus-logic-riverbed-technology-opko-health-3-todays-best-stocks/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC