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Midday Stock Roundup: BJ’s Jumps on Restructuring Plan

Kura Sushi continues torrid climb since November

March 27

RESTAURANT CHAINS

BJ’s Restaurants Inc. (Nasdaq: BJRI) jumped 9.1% to $36.22 and an $846 million market cap. The Huntington Beach-based restaurant chain today announced that it reached an agreement with PW Partners LLC to provide recommendations regarding cost structure and efficiencies to the company and its board of directors. PW Partners, which owns more than 5% of the common shares, agreed to withdraw its slate of nominees for the board.

Kura Sushi USA Inc. (Nasdaq: KRUS) climbed 6.5% to $119.43 and a $1.3 billion market cap. The Irvine-based restaurant chain is slated to announce its fiscal second-quarter results on April 4. Shares have more than doubled since a 52-week low of $51.02 in November.

March 26

TECHNOLOGY

WM Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MAPS) jumped 10% to $1.19 a share and a $197 million market cap. Shares in the Irvine-based parent company of Weedmaps, a software company that serves the cannabis industry, are up 35% since March 6.

Terran Orbital Corp. (NYSE: LLAP) climbed 11% to $1.19 a share and a $231 million market cap. The satellite maker, which has the bulk of its operations in Irvine, yesterday pushed its fourth quarter earnings call a day later to April 2.

–Kaitlin Aquino


March 25

HEALTHCARE

Irvine-based Masimo Corp. (Nasdaq: MASI) rose 3.5% to $139.73 apiece and a $7.4 billion market cap. Shares are up today after the company, a maker of non-invasive monitoring devices, announced the consideration of spinning off its consumer-facing business.

ENERGY

Clean Energy Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: CETY) jumped 20% to $1.15 per share with a market cap of $45 million. Shares of the Irvine-based provider of renewable energy have more than doubled since Feb. 13.

MARKETS

Crude oil rose 1.5% to $81.82 per barrel.

–Emily Santiago-Molina


March 22

HEALTHCARE

Biolase Inc. (Nasdaq: BIOL) climbed 21% to 18 cents a share and a $3.4 million market cap. The Lake Forest-based maker of dental lasers today reported fourth quarter results, projecting 2024 revenue growth to rise up to 8% to $53 million. Trading volume for the company’s shares is almost 50 times the daily average.

TECHNOLOGY

WM Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MAPS) rose 6.8% to $1.02 a share and a $167 million market cap. Shares in the Irvine-based parent company of Weedmaps, which serves the cannabis industry, are up 30% since the start of the year.

INDEXES

The yield on a 10-year treasury bond slipped 1.2% to 4.218%.

–Kaitlin Aquino


March 21

HEALTHCARE

AEON Biopharma Inc. (NYSE: AEON) fell 7.7% to $11.62 and a $437 million market cap. The Irvine drug maker yesterday announced that it will receive $15 million in convertible senior notes in a private placement from Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co.

TECHNOLOGY

Aliso Viejo-based indie Semiconductor Inc. (Nasdaq: INDI) rose 5.3% to $6.88 and a $1.1 billion market cap. Shares in the automotive tech company went up slightly yesterday after announcing plans to invest in AI processor company Expedera Inc.

–Yuika Yoshida


March 20

RESTAURANTS

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) climbed 5.7% to $2,957.63 and an $81.2 billion market cap. The Newport Beach-based chain of fast food restaurants yesterday announced its plans in June for a 50-for-one stock split of its common shares, one of the biggest splits in the history of the New York Stock Exchange.

MORTGAGES

Irvine-based loanDepot Inc. (NYSE: LDI) increased 5.9% to $2.33 and a $760 million market cap. Shares of the mortgage originator are up 8.9% this week as investors bet on whether the Federal Reserve will lower its benchmark interest rates.

MARKETS

Crude oil fell 2% to $81.83 a barrel.

                                                                                               –Peter J. Brennan


March 19

HEALTHCARE

Orange-based Alignment Healthcare Inc. (Nasdaq: ALHC) jumped 15% to $5.39 apiece and a $1 billion market cap. Shares are rising today after the company, a Medicare Advantage plan provider, hit an all-time low of $4.48 since going public in 2022.

AEON Biopharma Inc. (NYSE: AEON) dropped 11% to $14.50 per share with a market cap of $537 million. Volume is two times the daily average. Shares of the Irvine-based drugmaker are still up four times as much since its 52-week low last August.

INDEXES

Crude oil rose 1.1% to $83.63 per barrel.

–Emily Santiago-Molina

March 18
AEROSPACE 
Tustin-based space tourism company Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPCE)  fell 9.9% to $1.49 per share for a market cap of $598 million, nearing a 52-week low seen last November.
HEALTHCARE 
Shares in Alignment Healthcare Inc. (Nasdaq: ALHC), a provider of Medicare Advantage plans, were down 8.3% at $457 for a market cap of $864 million. The stock price has dropped almost in half this year since releasing enrollment figures in January.
INDEXES
The cost for a barrel of oil rose 1.8% to $82.46.
                                                                                         —Kevin Costelloe

March 15

AGRICULTURE 

Newport Beach-based American Vanguard Corp. (NYSE: AVD), an agricultural products maker, rose 19% to $12.60 per share for a market cap of $362 million. The company yesterday reported earnings of 25 cents per share in the fourth quarter up from earnings of 13 cents a year ago, and n line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.  Revenues were $172.2 million for the quarter, up around 8% year over year, but they missed slightly the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $172.7 million.

RETAIL

Specialty apparel retailer Tilly’s Inc. (NYSE: TLYS) fell 5.3% to $6.82 per share for a market cap of $204 million. The Irvine-based  company said yesterday that fourth-quarter net sales decreased by 4.1% to $173 million, while the net loss for the period was $20.6 million.

INDEXES

The Nasdaq fell 1.1% to 15,949.12.

Kevin Costelloe

MARCH 14
RETAIL
GEN Restaurant Group Inc. (Nasdaq: GENK) rose 16% to $7.76 and a $469 million market cap. Shares in the all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue chain, which got its start in Tustin and is now based in Cerritos, are up 38% since hitting a 52-week low of $5.61 on March 7.
CONSTRUCTION
Irvine-based construction company Shimmick Corp. (Nasdaq: SHIM) climbed 12% to $7.86 and a $200 million market cap. Trading volume is more than double the daily average of 22,000.
INDEXES
Oil increased 1.7% to $81.05 per barrel.
Gold fell 1% to $2,162.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond increased 2.3% to 4.286%.
–Yuika Yoshida

MARCH 13
MORTGAGES
LoanDepot Inc. (NYSE: LDI) fell 9.4% to $2.30 and a $742 million market cap. The Irvine-based mortgage originator yesterday reported fourth-quarter revenue of $228 million, missing the average analyst estimate of $239 million. It also reported a wider loss than expected of 16 cents a share when the consensus was for a 6-cent loss.
BIOPHARMACEUTICALS
Avid Bioservices Inc. (CDMO) fell 4.6% to $6.08 and a $384 million market cap. The Tustin-based contract manufacturer of biologics yesterday said it would restate certain results in prior quarters because it must reclassify certain senior notes.
MARKETS
Crude oil climbed 2.2% to $79.25 a barrel.
                                                                                                  –Peter J. Brennan

MARCH 12
HEALTHCARE
Santa Ana-based NKGen Biotech Inc. (Nasdaq: NKGN), a clinical stage biotech company, fell 19% to $2.06 per share for a market cap of $46 million after yesterday’s 15% increase. The company’s shares are still up three-fold since last week when it announced the upcoming data presentation at the Tau2024 Global Conference in Washington, D.C., at the end of this month.
DENTAL 
Laguna Hills-based Sonendo Inc. (OTCQX: SONX), a dental technology company,  declined 42% to 9 cents per share for a market cap of $5.4 million. The company yesterday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $10.9 million, the same as in the same period of 2022. The company also said it expects full-year 2024 revenue in the range of $28 million to $30 million, excluding a unit that it sold; that would be below last year’s $43.9 million while one analyst covering the company had estimated $48 million for this year.
 
INDEXES
The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose 1.2% to 4.15%.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          —KEVIN COSTELLOE

March 11

HEALTHCARE

Staar Surgical Co. (Nasdaq: STAA) rose 9.8% to $39.36 with a market cap of $1.4 billion. Shares of the Lake Forest-based lens maker were up after Stifel analyst Thomas Stephan upgraded Staar’s rating to Buy from Hold with a price target of $50, up from $30.

Stifel said the company’s shares have pulled back notably since late 2022 “as investor excitement toward EVO’s domestic opportunity has deteriorated,” The Fly reported. Stephan believes the company’s “conservative” 2024 guidance, U.S. EVO “green-shoots,” and a trough valuation can allow investors to “weather these storms, at discounted prices for a differentiated asset/technology.”

Santa Ana-based NKGen Biotech Inc. (Nasdaq: NKGN) jumped 15% to $2.51 apiece and a $54 million market cap. Shares of the biotech firm have tripled since last week when it announced the upcoming data presentation at the Tau2024 Global Conference in Washington, D.C. at the end of March.

–Emily Santiago-Molina


March 8

ENGINEERING

Anaheim-based engineering firm Willdan Group (Nasdaq: WLDN) rose 26% to $24.94 per share for a market cap of $340 million after a strong earnings report yesterday. Wedbush Securities raised the firm’s price target on Willdan to $30 from $25 and has kept the outperform rating on the shares. Willdan reported “blowout” fourth quarter results, while providing conservative 2024 guidance, and Wedbush believes recent deal flow and pipeline conversion will ultimately result in strong net revenue growth throughout 2024, the analyst tells investors in a research note according to the website The Fly.com.

Irvine-based chip company Mobix Labs (NASDAQ: MOBX) fell 25% to $1.31 per share, close to the lowest since the company went public in December, for a market cap of $34 million.

The price for a barrel of oil fell 1.2% to $78.02

Gold rose 1.6% to $2,200.30.

Kevin Costelloe

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Peter J. Brennan
Peter J. Brennan
Peter J. Brennan has been a journalist for 40 years. He spent a decade in Latin America covering wars, narcotic traffickers, earthquakes, and business. His resume includes 15 years at Bloomberg News where his headlines and articles sometimes moved the market caps of companies he covered by hundreds of millions of dollars. His articles have been published worldwide, including the New York Times and the Washington Post; he's appeared on CNN, CBC, BBC, and Bloomberg TV. He was awarded a Kiplinger Fellowship at The Ohio State University.
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