52-Week Low Club (AMLN, CYMI, NTCH, KEYN, MMA, NATI, STE, WTW)

There was a much larger list of companies which hit 52-week lows, but these were some of the larger percentage changes that we looked at:

• Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN) closed at $29.34 versus a prior 52-week low of $29.73 (high $53.25). Poor future outlook and inflated costs…. stock starting to look like the "Amylin-ville Horror."
• Cymer Inc. (CYMI) down 20% to $27.00, prior 52-week range was $31.25 to $45.16. Cymer was downgraded after missing earnings yesterday.
• Hutchinson Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: HTCH) fell 33% to $16.18; prior 52-week range was $17.69 to $27.85. Low sales projections and downgrades from Caris and Brean Murray.
• Keynote Systems Inc. (KEYN) tanked 28% to $9.20 versus prior 52-week trading range of $10.35 to $17.35. A Bad note of losses and downgrades.
• Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC (NYSE: MMA) down 22% to $7.13, versus prior 52-week range of $9.05 to $32.20.  Woes continue, stock heading to pink sheets/OTC.
• National Instruments Corp. (NASDAQ: NATI) fell almost 10% to $26.23, but intraday lows were $24.88; 52-week trading range $25.80 to $36.06.  Citi downgraded after Q1 earnings outlook looked short.
• Steris Corp. (NYSE: STE) fell 14% to $23.48; prior 52-week range $24.65 to $31.71. It is involved in the development, manufacture, and marketing of infection prevention, contamination control, microbial reduction, and surgical and critical care support products and services.  For a nearly-recession proof business, you wonder why its outlook wasn’t in-line.
• Weight Watchers (NYSE: WTW) fell 2.2% today to $41.94, although its intraday low was $41.49; prior 52-week trading range was $41.52 to $58.24.  No real news today, maybe losing weight equals losing share prices?  We doubt it.  This may be economically sensitive even if this is one of the few ongoing methods of weight loss that will actually work.

Jon C. Ogg
January 30, 2008