Morning Movers (MBLX, JDAS, DMND, GGC, ROVI)

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include Metabolix Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX), JDA Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS), Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND), Georgia Gulf Corp. (NYSE: GGC), and Rovi Corp. (NASDAQ: ROVI).

After the first half hour of trading, Metabolix is down nearly -55% at $2.70 after posting a new 52-week low of $2.58 earlier. Volume is already 20x the daily average. The bioscience and chemicals company is suffering from the cancellation of a joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), which the larger company unexpectedly announced this morning.

JDA Software is down nearly -13% at $28.58. Volume is already nearly double the daily average. The enterprise software maker missed revenue estimates when it reported preliminary numbers for the fourth quarter.

Diamond Foods is down more than -8.5% at $30.29. Volume is heavy, at about 50% of the daily average already trading hands. The snack food maker is now the subject of a criminal inquiry related to payments it made to farmers.

Georgia Gulf is up more than 35% at $33.18. Volume is already 5x the daily average. The chemical and home products maker has received a buyout offer of about $1.03 billion ($30/share) from Westlake Chemical Corp. (NYSE: WLK).

Rovi is up more than 10% at $30.40. Volume is already more than half the daily average. The maker of Roxio software was maintained as a ‘buy’ with a $63 target price by Canaccord Genuity, which discounts any major change following the appointment of a new CEO.

Paul Ausick