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SmallCap stocks Shuffle Master (SHFL), OraSure Technologies and LaserCard (LCRD) posted gains this morning as the board markets see-sawed on: Bearish news from the National Association of Realtors saying existing home sales fell 2.7% in August compared with a 7.2% rise in July and Bullish news from the Labor Department that initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 530,000 from an upwardly revised 551,000 the previous week. That is the third straight week claims have dropped.
Gaining 6.85% ($0.61) this morning is S&P SmallCap 600 company Shuffle Master Inc., (SHFL) http://www.shufflemaster.com/ which is currently trading on the Nasdaq in the $9.45 range. SHFL has a new market cap of $502 million. SHFL has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 440,488 shares and it topped that an hour and a half into the session.
SHFL received an upgrade from research house Roth Capital of 'hold' to 'buy' and that sent SHFL up. The upgrade comes on the heels of SHFL's early September Q3 09 numbers that beat analyst estimates. SHFL earned $0.10 a share during the quarter and analysts were expecting 7 cents. SHFL management noted that its automatic card shufflers will be attractive in the future to cash-strapped states in the U.S. that may turn to legalized gambling to help offset their budgetary shortfalls. SHFL had Q3 09 revenues of $45.1 million which beat estimates $800k.
SHFL makes and entertainment-based products for the gaming industry worldwide. It operates in four segments: Utility, Proprietary Table Games, Electronic Table Systems, and Electronic Gaming Machines. The Utility segment offers automatic card shufflers, including single deck, batch, and continuous shufflers used in card table games. The Proprietary Table Games segment provides live table games, including poker, blackjack, baccarat, and pai gow poker-based table games. The Electronic Table Systems segment provides e-Table platforms, such as Table Master, Vegas star, Rapid Table Games, and i-Table. The Electronic Gaming Machines segment offers PC-based video slot machines.
At $9.45, SHFL is pennies below its 52-week high of $9.90 set on 09-15-09 and is above its 52-week low of $1.97 set on 03-1309. At $9.45, SHFL is ahead of both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. SHFL has trailing twelve month revenues of $182 million. It shares out versus float ratio is near parity. SHFL is widely held by institutions.
Gaining 9.22% ($0.26) this morning is OraSure Technologies Inc., (OSUR) http://www.orasure.com/ currently trading on the Nasdaq in the $3.05 range. OSUR has a new market cap of $137 million. OSUR has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 170,009 shares and it surpassed that today 2 hours into the session.
OSUR announced today that it has been awarded a 36-month contract for its OraQuick ADVANCE Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test with Premier Purchasing Partners, L.P., the group purchasing unit of Premier, Inc. (the Premier Healthcare Alliance has more than 2,200 U.S. hospitals and 63,000-plus other healthcare sites).
The new deal, effective November 1, 2009, provides Premier's hospitals with pre-negotiated pricing and terms for the purchase of the OraQuick ADVANCE test, the first and only FDA-approved and CLIA-waived rapid point-of-care test that can detect antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 in 20 minutes, using oral fluid, finger-stick or venipuncture whole blood or plasma specimens.
Douglas A. Michels, President and CEO of OSUR said, "We believe this contract will expand our growth opportunities among Premier members, particularly as hospitals across the country expand their HIV testing programs."
OSUR makes and sells oral fluid diagnostic products and specimen collection devices. In addition, OSUR provides immunoassay tests and reagents for insurance risk assessment, substance abuse testing, and forensic toxicology applications. OSUR sells its products through direct sales, strategic partnerships, and independent distributors to clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations and public health organizations, distributors, government agencies, and physicians' offices, in the United States, Europe, and internationally.
At $3.05, OSUR is below its 52-week high of $5.36 set on 09-24-08 and is above its 52-week low of $2.16 set on 02-05-09. At $3.05, OSUR is ahead of both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. OSUR has trailing twelve month revenues of $68 million. OSUR is widely held by institutions. Its shares out versus float ratio is near-parity.
At $9.49 today, LCRD sets a new 52-week high
Gaining 5.44% ($0.49) this morning is LaserCard Corp., (LCRD) http://www.lasercard.com/ currently trading in the $9.49 range on the Nasdaq. LCRD has a new market cap of $115 million. LCRD has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 139,585 shares and it easily topped that 11:30 a.m. EST.
LCRD has been making steady gains since its Monday announcement of product innovations and improvements added to its optical security media.
LCRD's aid document examiners visually authenticate identity credentials when electronic card readers are not available. The examiners put the possibility of credible forgeries even further beyond the reach of counterfeiters.
LCRD's ongoing enhancement of its optical security media is enabled by continuous internal software development efforts. The company's flexible development environment and secure encoding technology allow the media to be purposed in progressively new and unique ways. The new and enhanced features in the most recently released developments include: Higher Resolution, Higher Contrast, an upgraded embedded hologram, complex images to lock and secure the hologram and a new card configuration which complies with International Civil Aviation Organization standards for travel cards.
LCRD's cards and systems are used in various applications, including citizen identification, border security, government service delivery, and facility access.
At $9.49, LCRD will set a 52-week high beating its previous $9.40 set on 08-31-09 and at $9.49, LCRD is far above its 52-week low of $2.05 set on 03-25-09. At $9.49, LCRD is ahead of both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. LCRD has trailing twelve month revenues of $55 million and a trailing twelve month diluted EPS of $0.19. Its shares out versus float ratio is near-parity.
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