Here’s what’s hot in the market today: Bears cut into Nokia (NYSE: NOK) on a Goldman downgrade while tech firms Telvent IT sees strong gains and Daktronics follows suit. Big morning losers include clothing chain Joseph A. Banks and American Super Conductor.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) continued its second day of huge volume trading, with shares shedding another 4%, hitting a low below $6.75. NOK hasn’t traded below $7 since 1998. Nearly 189 million shares were traded, or about seven times the normal volume. Nokia warned investors on Tuesday that it would be reporting sales “substantially” below expectations of $9.5 billion for the second quarter. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) downgraded NOK from Buy to Neutral this morning and cut its price target from $12.40 to $7.30. Sachs says NOK’s loss of market share will be hard to regain despite recent deal with Microsoft.
Joseph A. Banks Clothiers (NASDAQ: JOSB) dropped 13% to just below $50 by midday on seven times typical trading volume. The men’s clothing chain took a major hit after reporting its first quarter earnings this morning. Revenues totaled $193 million, well below analyst expectations of $195 million, while earnings per share came in at 65-cents, one penny below expectations.
Telvent (NASDAQ: TLVT), a Spanish IT company that serves farming and energy industries, was up more than 15% by midday, trading at almost $40 per share. About 7 million shares traded, or more than 30 times the normal trading volume. The boost came after utilities conglomerate Abengoa agreed to sell its 40% stake in Telvent to Schneider Electronic of France.
Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT) rose almost 9% on trading of more than 800,000 shares, about seven times typical volume. The video technology and digital billboard manufacturer reported $3.0 million in earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter on more than $114 million in net sales, year-on-year growth of 19%. DAKT was trading near $12 at midday.
American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC) was trading near $8.70, having fallen almost 20% in early trading. More than 6 million shares traded, or about four times the normal volume. The energy technology company continued an almost two month decline that’s seen shares plummet from almost $25 down to $9. The initial drop came from Chinese clients cancelling orders for wind turbines. The latest hit follows the AMSC failure to meet the filing deadline for its fiscal 2011 report.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.
