Best Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014

As we approach Black Friday, small cap apparel retail stocks�Body Central Corp (NASDAQ: BODY), Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) and Francesca's Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: FRAN) have the dubious distinction of being the sector�� worst performing stocks (according to Finviz.com) as they are down 62.8%, 29.5% and 26.4%, respectively, since the start of the year (see my previous article: This Year�� Best Performing Small Cap Apparel Retail Stocks? CACH, SMRT, PSUN & DXLG). With that performance in mind, what�sort of performance should�investors and traders alike expect from these apparel retail dogs as we head into Black Friday and the all important holiday season? Here is what you need to be aware of:

Body Central Corp. A growing, multi-channel, specialty retailer offering on-trend, quality apparel and accessories at value prices, Body Central had approximately 286 stores located in fashion retail venues across 28 states in the South, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest as of the middle of 2013. Body Central Corp sank around 30% at the beginning of the month after reporting a worse-than-expected loss for its third quarter. Specifically, Body Central Corp reported a 10.4%�fall in net revenues�to�$60.8 million, a store sales decrease of�10.1% to $55.7 million due to a comparable-store sales decrease of 18.3% and a net loss�of $9.0 million verses net income of $153,000 for the same period last year. The CEO noted:

"Our third quarter results reflect the continued difficulty of driving traffic into our stores and the overall traffic slowdown within our segment. While our comparable sales decreased 18% for the quarter, we realized positive comp sales performance in our bottoms and shoe businesses. In addition, the eCommerce component of our direct business continues to grow rapidly as we shift our marketing spend to online traffic drivers such as email campaigns, display ads, and affiliate programs. During the third quarter, we saw direct business revenue attributed to eCommerce increase approximately threefold from prior year levels. We are also confident that our focus on nightlife and club wear will resonate with our customers this holiday season. The introduction of our Sexy Stretch line performed well and we have plans to expand the offering.��/p>

Hot Asian Companies For 2015: FuelCell Energy Inc.(FCEL)

FuelCell Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacturing, and sale of high temperature fuel cells for clean electric power generation primarily in South Korea, the United States, Germany, Canada, and Japan. The company offers proprietary carbonate Direct FuelCell Power Plants that electrochemically produce electricity from hydrocarbon fuels, such as natural gas and biogas. Its fuel cells operate on a range of hydrocarbon fuels, including natural gas, renewable biogas, propane, methanol, coal gas, and coal mine methane. The company also develops carbonate fuel cells, planar solid oxide fuel cell technology, and other fuel cell technologies. It provides its products to universities; manufacturers; mission critical institutions, such as correction facilities and government installations; hotels; and natural gas letdown stations, as well as to customers who use renewable biogas for fuel, including municipal water treatment facilities, br eweries, and food processors. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Stavros]

  I was so scarred by their subsequent crash that when I heard a portfolio manager rhapsodizing about the recent performance of Plug Power Inc (NSDQ: PLUG), Fuelcell Energy Inc (NSDQ: FCEL) and Capstone Turbine Corp (NSDQ: CPST), I could scarcely believe it. These were names that I had not heard in years, names that many investors would like to forget. Indeed, even with the recent run-up in their share prices, the value of these firms today is just a small fraction of what it was back then.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  The most heavily traded Nasdaq stocks today are Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) and FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL). The difference today is that the stock prices are tumbling, with Plug Power down 38.89% at $6.30 in a 52-week range of $0.15 to $11.70 (a new 52-week high today). The company�� stock is worth $0.50 a share according to an analyst at Citron Research, who recently had some very harsh things to say about 3D Systems Inc. (NYSE: DDD) as well. Plug Power�� share volume was nearly 8-times the daily average of around 31 million shares traded.

Best Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Technology stocks gained Tuesday, with Ku6 Media Co (NASDAQ: KUTV) leading advancers. Among leading tech stocks, gains came from Rubicon Technology (NASDAQ: RBCN), Bitauto Holdings (NYSE: BITA) and Sify Technologies (NASDAQ: SIFY). Utilities shares dropped by 0.11 percent in the US market today.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Technology stocks gained Tuesday, with Ku6 Media Co (NASDAQ: KUTV) leading advancers. Among leading tech stocks, gains came from Rubicon Technology (NASDAQ: RBCN), Bitauto Holdings (NYSE: BITA) and Sify Technologies (NASDAQ: SIFY).

Best Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: OCZ Technology Group Inc(OCZ)

OCZ Technology Group, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes computer components for computing devices and systems worldwide. It primarily offers solid state drives, flash memory storage, memory modules, thermal management solutions, AC/DC switching power supply units, and computer gaming solutions. The company?s products are used in industrial equipment and computer systems; computer and computer gaming solutions; mission critical servers and high end workstations; personal computer (PC) upgrades to extend the useable life of existing PCs; high performance computing and scientific computing; video and music editing; home theatre PCs and digital home convergence products; and digital photography and digital image manipulation computers. OCZ Technology Group, Inc. offers its products to retailers, on-line retailers, original equipment manufacturers, systems integrators, and distributors. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in San Jose, Califo rnia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  The not-so-great and wonderful OCZ
  There was no company-specific news that caused solid-state-drive maker OCZ Technology (NASDAQ: OCZ  ) to fall almost 8% Wednesday. But an article that appeared on Seeking Alpha �questioning whether the company had six months or less to live before it filed for bankruptcy seemed to coincide with its fall.

Best Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Texas Instruments Incorporated(TXN)

Texas Instruments Incorporated engages in the design and sale of semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers worldwide. The company?s Analog segment offers high-performance analog products comprising standard analog semiconductors, such as amplifiers, data converters, and interface semiconductors; high-volume analog and logic products; and power management semiconductors and line-powered systems. Its Embedded Processing segment includes DSPs that perform mathematical computations to process and enhance digital data; and microcontrollers, which are designed to control a set of specific tasks for electronic equipment. The company?s Wireless segment designs, manufactures, and sells application processors and connectivity products. Its Other segment offers smaller semiconductor products, which include DLP products that are primarily used in projectors to create high-definition images; and application-specific integrated circuits. This segment also provides handhe ld graphing and scientific calculators, as well as licenses technologies to other electronic companies. The company serves the communications, computing, industrial, consumer electronics, automotive, and education sectors. Texas Instruments Incorporated sells its products through a direct sales force, distributors, and third-party sales representatives. It has collaboration agreements with PLX Technology Inc.; Neonode, Inc.; and Ubiquisys Ltd. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Saletta]

  On the flip side, Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN  ) was the second largest gainer for the IPIG portfolio on the week. While it reported somewhat weaker-than-expected earnings, its shares rose on the news that its product mix is shifting toward higher-margin items, a potential harbinger of strength for the future. When it comes to drivers of a stock's strength, expanding margins are a far stronger reason for optimism than poison pills and rumors of activist investors.

Best Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Panera Bread Company(PNRA)

Panera Bread Company, together with its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises retail bakery-cafes in the United States and Canada. Its bakery-cafes offer fresh baked goods, sandwiches, soups, salads, custom roasted coffees, and other complementary products, as well as provide catering services. The company also manufactures and supplies dough and other products to company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes. As of March 29, 2011, it owned and franchised 1,467 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co., and Paradise Bakery & Cafe names. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) was downgraded to Hold from a prior Buy rating at Jefferies.

  Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T Capital Markets.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Companies are always trying to build for the future: Sometimes it works, other times things don't work out quite as planned. From a tech giant having to rebrand a popular service to one of the more notorious IPO duds of last year bouncing back, here's a rundown of this week's best and worst results from the business world. SodaStream (SODA) -- Winner Naysayers have been saying for years that SodaStream's soda-making appliance is a fad, but the Israeli company just keeps on growing, and it came through with better-than-expected results on Wednesday. Revenue rose 29 percent with double-digit growth across its soda makers, carbonator refills, and soda flavors. In other words, the systems are being used. Earnings grew even faster. SodaStream had 7.4 million shares sold short as of July 15 -- a strong measure of the bearish outlook among investors regarding the stock. That represents a whopping 35 percent of SodaStream's 21.4 million fully diluted shares outstanding, though it's down markedly from the nearly 10 million shares that were sold short this time last year. Those bears have been burned by SodaStreams healthy run in recent months. And, further tweaking the skeptics, SodaStream capped off its report by boosting its revenue and profit outlooks for all of 2013. Microsoft (MSFT) -- Loser All of the tech giants have their own Dropbox clone, vying for a slice of the inevitably gargantuan cloud-hosted file storage market. "We aim to make SkyDrive the place for all your documents, notes, photos, videos and other files," Microsoft began in an April press release touting its own solution. Sorry, Microsoft: You're going to have compile a new name. The world's largest software company lost a trademark fight with British Sky Broadcasting over the Sky name. Sensing defeat, Microsoft has decided not to pursue an appeal and BSkyB will give the Windows watcher a reasonable amount of time to rebrand the service. You would think a t

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  The company also noted that only one in three customers buys food while at Starbucks. The acquisition of La Boulange could change that statistic, as the company tries to improve the quality of its food offerings. A move in this direction could easily help the company compete with the likes of Panera (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) , a company whose stores have a similar feel, but -- for now -- much better food options.

• [By Susan J. Aluise]

  A recent survey by industry research firm NPD Group found that foodies and restaurant regulars — which comprise 58% of the market — increasingly care more about quality and freshness than they do about meal price. Those trends clearly are in the wheelhouse of chains like CMG and Panera Bread (PNRA).

Best Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of treatments for infectious diseases. The company focuses on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Its drug candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV include ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor, which is in phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV; ACH-2684, a pangenotypic protease inhibitor, which is in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV infection; and NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, which is to enter a phase I clinical trial, as well as various additional NS5A inhibitors in preclinical development. Its pipeline of product candidates also includes ACH-702 and ACH-2881 for drug resistant bacterial infections; elvucitabine for HIV infection; and AC H-1095 for HCV infection. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  An under-$10 biotechnology player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN), discovers, develops and commercializes anti-infective drug therapies in the U.S. and internationally. This stock has been destroyed by the sellers so far in 2013, with shares down big by 66%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Achillion Pharmaceuticals, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways for the last month and change, with shares moving between $2.26 on the downside and $2.98 on the upside. This sideways trading pattern is occurring after shares of ACHN gapped down sharply in late September from $7.50 to under $3 with heavy downside volume. Shares of ACHN are now starting to trend higher and move within range of triggering a big breakout trade above the upper-end of its sideways trading chart pattern.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ACHN if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.85 to $2.98 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 2.76 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ACHN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its gap down day high from September at $3.62 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give ACHN a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone that started at $7.50 a share.

  Traders can look to buy ACHN off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $2.44 to $2.26 a share. One can also buy ACHN off strength once it clears those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [By Sean Williams]

  In terms of clinical updates, hepatitis-C-focused biotech Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) announced updated midstage results for its lead compound, ACH-3102, on Tuesday. In trials of genotype-1b treatment naive patients, ACH-3102 plus a ribavirin delivered a 75% success rate in end-of-treatment virologic response. The problem with these results is that not only is Achillion far behind its all-oral peers in terms of development, but its 75% success rate trailed that of Gilead Sciences' Sofosbuvir, which delivered 100% success rates in some of its late-stage trials featuring genotype-1 patients.