Orange County’s big 2009 winner on Wall Street: Irvine-based Diedrich Coffee Inc.
The seller of coffee products is on track to end the year with a gain of about 9,500%, easily the biggest of any local stock.
Diedrich, which has a market value of about $300 million, saw a wild run-up that started in the spring as growth stock investors flocked to the shares as the company posted growing profits and sales.
Some takeover speculation also likely was in play: In November, Emeryville-based coffeehouse operator Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. offered to buy Diedrich for $213 million.
A bidding war with Vermont-based coffee wholesaler Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. ensued, with Green Mountain now in the process of buying Diedrich for $290 million.
A trio of other smaller companies are the next biggest gainers.
Irvine-based Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. is on track for a 500% gain with a recent market value of $145 million.
Newport Beach chipmaker Mindspeed Technologies Inc. is up 445% on a market value of $120 million.
Aliso Viejo-based drug Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. is holding a 365% gain on a market value of $150 million.
Among the largest companies here, Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. is the big winner with a 285% gain to a market value of $10 billion.
The company added $7 billion in market value in 2009, a feat only topped by Irvine drug maker Allergan Inc. with an $8 billion gain.
Allergan is up 60% to $19.5 billion in market value.
The next big gainer was Irvine chipmaker Broadcom Corp., up 85% to $16 billion in market value.
The locals easily outpaced Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which is set to end the year with a 20% gain.
The vast majority of major OC stocks are poised to end 2009 higher as part of a rebound from Wall Street’s plunge that started in fall 2008 and bottomed in March.
Among those looking at declines for 2009 is Santa Ana-based vocational college operator Corinthian Colleges Inc., down about 15% on a market value of $1.2 billion.
The company’s shares surged during Wall Street’s downturn as high employment fueled demand at its schools.
Corinthian pulled back in the second half of 2009 as some investors worried about student loan problems at for-profit school operators.
Other decliners include Newport Beach-based chemical company American Vanguard Corp., off 30% on a market value of $220 million, and Newport Beach medical services company Alliance HealthCare Services Inc., down 30% on a market value of about $300 million.
