Midday Stock Roundup: Clean Energy Fuels Corp. up 6.5%

March 27

ENERGY

Shares of Clean Energy Fuels Corp. rose 6.5% to $2.51 with a market cap of $549 million (CLNE). The Newport Beach-based company, known for providing natural gas as an alternative fueling solution for vehicles, has seen its shares rise 18% since March 20.

DEFENSE

Mobix Labs Inc.’s shares dropped 8% to 35 cents and a $36 million market cap (Nasdaq: MOBX). Trading volume was 5.7 million shares, significantly below its usual average of 67.3 million.

MARKETS/INDEXES

The S&P 500 fell 1% to 6,412.97, and the Nasdaq also dropped 1.4% to 21,099.59 during midday trading, both six-month lows as Middle East tensions drag on the markets, according to Reuters.

Crude oil jumped 4% to $98.23 a barrel as Iran blocked two Chinese ships.

— Joseph Pimentel

March 26

TECHNOLOGY 

Irvine’s Lantronix Inc. was down 5.4% to $5.75 apiece and a $228 million market cap (Nasdaq: LTRX). Shares of the computer networking products maker are still off 7.8% since announcing its partnership with Unusual Machines Inc. “to develop next-generation autonomous drone components integrating edge AI compute” on March 19 (NYSE American: UMAC). The stock initially dropped 13% the day after the news.  

This past weekend at the 38th Annual Roth Conference in Dana Point, CEO Saleel Awsare spoke of Lantronix’s drone business ramp and its expectation to increase drone revenue to $8 million to $12 million in the current fiscal year, according to MarketBeat.  

RETAIL 

Shares of Lanvin Group Holdings, parent company of Anaheim’s St. John Knits, fell 9.1% to $1.37 with a $191 million market cap (NYSE: LANV). The stock has fallen 28% since the luxury retail operator reported preliminary 2025 revenue decreased 18% year-over-year on March 17.  

Lanvin Group hit an all-time low of $1.03 per share on Feb. 9.  

MARKETS/INDEXES 

The S&P 500 was down 1.1% to 6,521.37 and Nasdaq decreased 1.7% to 21,558.44 during midday trading.  

Gold fell 3.8% to $4,379.20 per ounce. 

Crude oil jumped 5% to $94.87 a barrel. 

The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond increased 1.89% to 4.41%.   

–Emily Santiago-Molina

March 25

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 38^th 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 23^rd 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