5 NASDAQ Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs

Gibraltar Industries Inc. (ROCK)

• A component of the steel & iron industries. Unlike many of its peers, ROCK has been going up instead of getting crushed. ROCK’s stock performance is the complete inverse of companies such as Rio Tinto (RTP), Arcelor Mittal (MT), POSCO (PKX), and Tenaris (TS).
• On August 8, ROCK reported Q2 earnings of $0.67 per share vs. $0.40 per share a year ago. Analysts were expecting $0.38 per share, crushing estimates. ROCK also surprised in Q1, reporting earnings of $0.27 while estimates were at $0.14 per share, a nearly 100% surprise. Turns out that ROCK made significant improvements in their cost structure. They also raised guidance for the full fiscal 2008 year.
• ROCK was upgraded by Robert W. Baird to “Outperform” and RBC Capital Markets raised their price target to $21 from $15.
• ROCK made two continuation gaps, both from exceptional earnings. The trend is highly likely to continue higher, divergent from the steel & iron sector’s performance. 

Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (QCOR)

• This company has only two products, but they command the market for childhood neurological disorders. Although the diseases are rare, QCOR’s extremely effective products are the first in line for treatment.
• QCOR has also been reporting positive earnings for the past six quarters.
• In addition, QCOR has been repurchasing shares all year, with a total of 2.7 million common shares valued at $11.8 million and all of its outstanding A-series preferred shares for $10.3 million. On September 4, QCOR repurchased 1.8 million shares at $5.06 per share from Iverlochy Consultadoria & Servicos L.D.A. They won’t be stopping here though; QCOR has an additional 3.5 million shares able to be repurchased under its program.
• On September 11, Stanford Research and Soleil initiated coverage, both issuing “Buy” ratings.
• As of August, 13.4% of shares (float) were short. I suspect that the number has sharply declined.
• QCOR spiked out of its multi-month consolidation, having broken through numerous support levels, aided by substantial short-covering. I expect a pullback as soon as buying momentum subsides.

Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS)

• This bank is amazing. What’s amazing is that NTRS reported positive earnings every quarter since 2005. That’s every single quarter since the start of the housing and credit meltdown.
• Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total loans are at 0.12%, much lower than many banks that took the hit. This bank is about quality, and if someone really has to buy a bank, then NTRS is it.
• The short interest is only 2.4%, so don’t expect a lot of pressure from shorts (unless they’re crazy). This is the definitely the wrong bank to be shorting.
• NTRS’s uptrend remains intact and doesn’t look like it will give up. This whole crisis is NTRS’s big opportunity to take advantage of the failure of dozens of regional banks.

Medicines Co. (MDCO)

• A pharmaceutical company focusing on acute care.
• MDCO beat estimates for every 2008 quarter so far (Q208 reported: $0.8, estimate: $0.07, Q108 reported: $0.09, estimate: $0.05).
• MDCO announced in August that they will acquire Curacyte Discovery GmbH, a German-based critical case medical company.
• Cleviprex, a drug recently approved by the FDA for high blood pressure, is expected to be a $200 million/per year drug.
• MDCO saw a recent spike. The uptrend continues and I expect MDCO to continue to hit new 52-week highs.

Hawaiian Airlines Inc. (HA)

• Despite missing estimates for the past two quarters (Q108 being a loss of $0.42 per share), HA keeps on flying to new highs. This is one of the very, very few airlines that are actually up YTD. It’s actually up approximately 120% so far YTD. 
• HA is doing so well because its main competitors, Aloha Air and ATA airlines, have both shut down since the first week of Q2.
• As oil prices subside, I expect HA to perform even better than they did when oil was at $145.
• The uptrend is intact without any major breaks. Both the 50-day and 200-day MA’s continue to slope upward. 

Disclosure: None, but will consider shorting QCOR for the short-term given an appropriate signal.