March 24
TECHNOLOGY
Printed circuit board maker TTM Technologies in Santa rose 4% to $105.58 apiece for a market cap of $11 billion. Investor website MarketBeat.com said earlier today the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.25. (Nasdaq: TTMI)
SEMICONDUCTORS
Aliso Viejo-based Indie Semiconductor was up 7% to $2.78 apiece for a market cap of $575 million, a day after releasing its first Ultraviolet Visible Distributed Feedback 399 nm single-frequency laser diode optimized for quantum computing systems based on cooled Ytterbium atoms. (Nasdaq: INDI)
HEALTHCARE
Laguna Hills-based Adagio Medical Holdings Inc. rose 15% to $1.30 apiece for a market cap of $28 million after announcing publication of results of its technology showing “significant functional improvements in ablation catheter performance” (Nasdaq: ADGM)
–Kevin Costelloe
—
March 23
HEALTHCARE
Eledon Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 10% to $3.17 apiece with a $252 million market cap (Nasdaq: ELDN). Shares of the Irvine-based biotechnology company are up 11% since reporting its fourth quarter and full year operating results for 2025. Among the company updates included updated data from its islet cell transplant study, which showed that a majority of patients achieved 100% insulin independence.
For more on Eledon, read this week’s issue of the Business Journal.
RESTAURANTS
Kura Sushi USA Inc. rose 8.5% to $60.65 apiece with a $734 million market cap (Nasdaq: KRUS). The restaurant company today participated in a fireside chat at the 38th Annual Roth Conference in Dana Point. Kura is scheduled to report its second quarter earnings on April 7.
INDEXES
The S&P 500 rose 1.2% to 6,582.91, Dow Jones was up 1.4% to 46,232.34 and Nasdaq increased 1.2% to 21,909.33. Gold also fell 4.2% to $4,382.80 an ounce while crude oil decreased 9% to $89.32 per barrel. Markets and indexes moved today after President Trump announced a pause in the bombing campaign because of negotiations with the Iranian government.
–Yuika Yoshida
MARCH 20
DEFENSE
Mobix Labs Inc.’s shares fell 15% to 48 cents with a market cap of $49 million (Nasdaq: MOBX). Volume at the Irvine-based semiconductor maker of 19 million was about a third of the daily average.
TECHNOLOGY
Shares of Lantronix Inc. dropped 11% to $5.56, with a market cap of $221 million (Nasdaq: LTRX). The stock is still more than doubled its 52-week low of $1.91 a year ago.
AUTOMOTIVE
Shares of Irvine-based Rivian Automotive Inc. declined 7% to $15.02, with a market cap of $18.6 billion (Nasdaq: RIVN). The stock had risen by 3.8% yesterday on news that the electric vehicle maker partnered with Uber to launch up to 50,000 autonomous R2 robotaxis, expected to be available by 2028.
MARKETS
Crude oil prices rose 2.5% to $97.90 amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
— Joseph Pimentel
March 19
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Rivian Automotive (Nasdaq: RIVN) rose 3.5% to $16.08 apiece for a market cap of $20 billion. Shares in the Irvine-based electric vehicle maker are up after Uber announced today that it’s investing up to $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031 to deploy up to 50,000 fully autonomous R2 robotaxis. An initial deployment of 10,000 robotaxis are expected to begin in San Francsico and Miami in 2028 and expand to 25 cities by 2031.
TECHNOLOGY
Lantronix Inc., an Irvine-based IoT and AI company, was up 5.7% to $6.28 and a $249 million market cap (Nasdaq: LTRX). The company today announced a partnership with Orlando, Fla.-based drone component manufacturer Unusual Machines Inc. to deliver AI-autonomous drone components for U.S. defense programs.
INDEXES
Gold fell 5.7% to $4,617.90 an ounce while crude oil increased 3% to $98.43 per barrel.
EMPLOYMENT
Global data and tech company Experian permanently laid off 28 employees in Costa Mesa on March 11, according to the California Employment Development Department.
–Yuika Yoshida
March 18
APPAREL
Tilly’s Inc. jumped 18% to $3.41 and a $104 million market cap (NYSE: TLYS). Shares have more than doubled since March 11th when it reported its first profitable fourth quarter in four years. For more on Irvine-based Tilly’s, see the March 23rd print edition of the Business Journal.
DEFENSE
Mobix Labs Inc. fell 10% to 46 cents and a $47 million market cap (Nasdaq: MOBX). Shares had soared more than 500% to as high as $1.22 each on March 3 after the Irvine-based company reported a “significant production purchase order” to supply additional key components for the U.S. Navy’s Tomahawk cruise missiles, the same long-range weapon used in the attacks ordered by President Donald J. Trump against Iran. Today’s volume was 13 million shares traded, about a fifth of the daily average of 63 million shares. For more on Mobix, see the March 9th issue of the Business Journal.
MARKETS
Crude oil climbed 1.6% to $97.03 a barrel while gold was off 2.6% to $4,879 an ounce.
–Peter J. Brennan
March 17
AEROSPACE
Space launch and services company Rocket Lab up 5.7% to $75.40 per share for a market cap of $43 billion after investor website Stocks to Trade cited the Long Beach-based company’s “prowess in space and defense” (Nasdaq: RKLB).
RESTAURANTS
Costa Mesa-based restaurant chain El Pollo Loco was up 4% to $13.86 per share for a market cap of $416 million, continuing an upward trend after saying last week fourth-quarter revenue rose 8% while the company disclosed new expansion plans. The company’s shares hit a 52-week high yesterday (Nasdaq: LOCO).
MARKETS
Oil rose 1.9% to $94.20 a barrel amid the continued U.S. and Israeli war with Iran.
—Kevin Costelloe
March 16
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine’s Netlist Inc. was up 6.7% to $1.59 apiece and a $489 million market cap (OTCQB: NLST). On Friday, the AI computing company urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to take action in a recently announced Section 301 investigation into South Korea and other economies over “the systematic misappropriation of U.S. intellectual property – particularly in the semiconductor sector.”
RESTAURANTS
Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. rose 5.5% to $13.42 with a $402 million market cap (Nasdaq: LOCO). On March 16, the Costa Mesa-based restaurant chain hit a new 52-week high of $13.56 during midday trading.
El Pollo Loco shares have grown 23% since posting its fourth quarter report on March 12.
MARKETS/INDEXES
The S&P 500 was up 1.1% to 6,702.11 and Nasdaq increased 1.3% to 22,396.02 during midday trading. The indexes rose as efforts to restore the flow of oil through the Persian Gulf intensified, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Gold was down 1.5% to $4,984.70 per ounce.
Crude oil fell 3.6% to $95.17 a barrel.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond decreased 1.03% to 4.241%.
EMPLOYMENT
Experian is permanently laying off 28 employees who work at or report to its Costa Mesa office effective May 11, according to a recent letter to the state’s employment development department (EDD).
–Emily Santiago-Molina
March 13
MANUFACTURING
Shares of Irvine-based Shimmick Corp. rose 28% to $3.58 for a market cap of $128 million (Nasdaq: SHIM). On Thursday, the builder of water infrastructure projects reported Q4 revenue of $100 million, adding that its gross margin improved from 3% to 12%. It also forecast 2026 sales of $550 million to $600 million for a midpoint of $575 million, above the average estimate of two analysts for $569 million.
RESTAURANTS
El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. shares jumped 17% to $12.68 per share with a market cap of $380.1 million (Nasdaq: LOCO). The Costa Mesa-based fast-casual restaurant chain yesterday reported Q4 revenue of $123.5 million. It generated same-store sales growth of 2.1% in its fourth quarter, marking the first increase since 2024.
RETAIL
Shares of Tilly’s Inc. climbed 11% to $2.66 with a market cap of $82 million (NYSE: TLYS). The Irvine-based teen apparel retailer on March 11 reported a 5.3% increase in sales to $155.1 million in the fourth quarter ending Jan. 31, its first profitable fourth quarter in three years. Since that report was issued two days ago, the shares are up 69%.
INDEXES
Crude oil prices rose 1.2% to $96.95 amid the Middle East war.
–Joseph Pimentel
March 12
TECHNOLOGY
Veritone Inc. (Nasdaq: VERI) decreased 5% to $2.91 apiece with a market cap of $268 million. Shares in the AI and software company, which is based in Denver but has major operations in Irvine, are down 7.3% after the company on Tuesday announced that it’d be delaying its fourth quarter and full year earnings from March 12 to March 26.
Veritone said that the company needed more time to “finalize the Company’s accounting treatment related to certain commercial transactions that transpired in the fourth quarter of 2025.”
RETAIL
Tilly’s Inc. (Nasdaq: TLYS) soared 49% to $2.43 apiece with a $74 million market cap after yesterday reporting its first profitable fourth quarter in three years. The Irvine-based retailer reported net sales increased 5.3% to $155 million, beating one analyst’s estimate of $149 million in revenue. For more information, read here.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Rivian Automotive (Nasdaq: RIVN) fell 4% to $15.97 apiece for a market cap of $19.8 billion. The Irvine-based electric vehicle maker today revealed that the first edition of its new R2 mid-size vehicle, dubbed R2 Performance, will start at $57,990 with deliveries starting this spring. For more information, read here.
INDEXES
The Nasdaq was down 1.4% to 22,392.32.
Crude oil jumped 8.8% to $94.99 per barrel.
–Yuika Yoshida
March 11
FINANCE
Irvine-based loanDepot fell 11% to $1.68 apiece with a market cap of $750 million. The company, one of the nation’s largest non-bank providers of mortgages, reported a fourth-quarter loss of 10 cents per share on Tuesday, compared with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 4 cents per share. (NYSE: LDI)
RETAIL
Tilly’s Inc. is up 4.4% to $1.65 apiece with a $50.3 million market cap. The Irvine-based retailer is set to report fiscal fourth quarter results today after the market closes. Analysts estimate a loss of approximately 15 cents per share. (Nasdaq: TLYS)
ENVIRONMENT
Shares of Clean Energy Technologies Inc. are up 6.7% to 92 cents with a market cap of about $8.3 million. On Wednesday, the Irvine firm said it is developing a modular waste-to-energy power system with METIS Power Inc. that converts waste into electricity using syngas and gas turbine technology. (Nasdaq: CETY)
INDEXES
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond is up 1.7% to 4.2%
Gold is down 1.2% to $5176.40 an ounce.
March 10
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Irvine-based electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive jumped 6% to $16.85 apiece for a market cap of $21 billion after TD Cowen upgraded the stock to Buy, increasing its price target to $20 from $17 (Nasdaq: RIVN).
MORTGAGES
Irvine-based mortgage provider originator LoanDepot was up 5% to $1.93 apiece for a market cap of $861 million a day after announcing it has expanded its market presence with the launch of a new wholesale lending channel (NYSE: LDI).
Markets were calmer and the price of oil dropped after President Trump said his war against Iran is “very complete” though the timing remained uncertain.
MARKETS
The price for a barrel of oil fell 10.5% to $84.87
Gold rose 2.8% to $5,243.90.
–Kevin Costelloe
March 9
RESTAURANTS
Costa Mesa-based Reborn Coffee Inc. jumped 12% to $1.93 apiece with a market cap of $14 million (Nasdaq: REBN). The coffee chain on Friday announced that board member Jung Jae Lim would join Jay Kim as co-chief executive; shares inched 1.2% following the news last week.
TECHNOLOGY
Lantronix Inc., an Irvine-based IoT and AI company, was up 7.1% to $6.05 apiece and a $241 million market cap (Nasdaq: LTRX). Shares have tripled from a 52-week low of $1.91 last April.
RETAIL
Shares of Boot Barn Holdings Inc. fell 6.6% to $166.35 with a $5 billion market cap (NYSE: BOOT). The Western wear retailer is down about 21% from its 52-week high of $201.25 in December.
MARKETS/INDEXES
Crude oil was up 4% to $94.51 a barrel; earlier, it shot up to above $100 on Monday.
–Emily Santiago-Molina
