Biotech Surges, While Others Droop

John Ransom | February 25, 2014 12:39 PM

Welcome to John Ransom’s Stocks in the News where the headlines meet the trendlines:

Stock number one: TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc.

RF Micro, TriQuint Merger May Not Satisfy Activist Investor--24/7 Wall Street

RF Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD) announced Monday morning that it will merge with TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT) in an all-stock transaction valued at around $1.6 billion. The transaction is set up as a tax-free restructuring, and current shareholders of each company will each hold about 50% of the merged firm. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year and is subject to a vote of both companies’ shareholders and other routine approvals.

Symbol: TQNT

Trailing PE: NA; Forward PE: 18

PEG: 2.05

Dividend: NA

Estimate Trend: Up

Ransom Note Trendline: Sell TriQuint

TQNT data by YCharts

Stock number two: Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.

Kinder Morgan Falls Amid Questions on Cash Flow - Bloomberg

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, the second-biggest U.S. pipeline company, fell the most in almost four years after a Barron’s article said the partnership has overstated cash flows and is overpriced.

The operator of 82,000 miles (132,000 kilometers) of oil and natural gas pipelines declined 3.5 percent to $75.69 at 10:40 a.m. in New York, after earlier having its biggest intraday drop since May 2010. Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI), its parent company, fell as much as 4.8 percent and Kinder Morgan Management LLC (KMR), which manages the partnership, declined as much as 4.9 percent.

Shares of Trex (TREX) rose sharply in early trading in the stock market after the maker of wood-alternative deck products breezed past quarterly sales and profit views and announced a 2-for-1 stock split. Trex is the nation's No. 1 supplier of wood-plastic composite decking and railing for residential and commercial markets. It reported fourth-quarter earnings of 23 cents a share. That reversed a loss of 13 cents the prior year and easily beat consensus estimates for 6 cents. Improving margins helped prop up the bottom line.

Symbol: TREX

Trailing PE: 93; Forward PE: 30

PEG: 1.03

Dividend: NA

Estimate Trend: Flat

Ransom Note Trendline: Sell Trex