STEC Destruction

Shares of STEC Incorporated were destroyed today on the stock market. They were down 39% from yesterday. The big news was that EMC, which is their biggest customer, has an excess inventory of their product. STEC produces solid states devices. As a result, analysts were trashing the stock lowering estimates.

I used to like STEC. They had a healthy dividend in the past. The company's 3Q results were awesome. Revenue was up 50% over last year. Profits was an awesome 20 times what they were in 3Q last year. This was a blowout quarter.

While it is true that 4Q will be bad because of the issue with their main customer, I am starting to warm up to STEC once again. They may not pay a dividend, but they are profitable.

Keep on Trucking

YRC Worldwide stock dived 63% today. The cause was evident. The company announced a swap of debt for new convertible Class A preferred shares.

This a big trucking company that is suffering from a freight recession. Just last week they announced a 45% drop in 3Q revenue compared with last year. Now the company is trying to survive.

I am not too hyped on YRC Worldwide. The company has been losing customers. And the demand is just not good right now. I am going to stay away from the stock. The only good news is that the union seems to back the agreement for the debt swap. Good luck YRC. You are going to need it.

Solar Stall

Shares of LDK Solar sank 22% today. This is a Chinese solar cell manufacturing company. Their price fluctuates a lot. One minute they're hot. Then next they seem to be out of style.

Today's movement came as a result of an announcement by Q-Cells corporation that an agreement between the two companies was being terminated. Q-Cells is looking to reclaim a recent payment of $245M from LDK. That's going to leave a mark.

The termination of the agreement speaks to there being a surplus of solar cell supply on the market. That, coupled with the possible repayment by LDK, would make it seem like the company will continue to trend South. But like I mentioned earlier, this one has a tendency to cycle up and down. I am thinking this is a temporary setback.

Wireless Woe

Novatel stock sank a whopping 26% from yesterday's close. Ouch. This was very strange. The 3Q results were damn good. Profit was $6.2M versus a loss of $1M last year. Revenue also rocketed up 20% this quarter versus last year. The company even beat the analysts estimates. But it still got punished.

What does the world want from this company? Like many other companies reporting 3Q results, Novatel is projected a bad 4Q. This is nothing new. Maybe stockholders are dumping based on this short term outlook. I am curious though. Wireless seems to be the future of networking. The company did well this quarter. I imagine they can repeat this, if not next quarter, in the upcoming year. I will be keeping an eye on this stock for a possible entry point.