The Gambling Gamble Falls to Weather in Asia

John Ransom | April 09, 2014 9:44 AM

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

Stock number one: Gigamon Inc.

Gigamon slips after missed deal prompts lower Q1 outlook—Fly on the Wall

Shares of Gigamon (GIMO), which offers solutions to control and manage network traffic, are slipping after the company lowered its first quarter revenue outlook based on the fall-out of a large deal with an existing customer. WHAT'S NEW: Last night, Gigamon reduced its first quarter revenue view to $31M-$31.5M from its previous outlook of $34M-$35M. Prior to the company's warning, analysts consensus revenue estimate was $34.8M. The company attributed the lowered revenue to one expected large transaction from an existing customer in EMEA that did not transpire.

Symbol: GIMO

Trailing PE: NA; Forward PE: 24

PEG: NA

Dividend: NA

Estimate Trend: Flat

Ransom Note Trendline: Sell Gigamon

GIMO data by YCharts

Stock number two: Mallinckrodt plc

Drug Deals Surge to New High With Mallinckrodt: Real M&A—Barron's

Mallinckrodt (MNK) Plc said yesterday that it will buy Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $5.6 billion. That propelled the amount spent on specialty drugmaker deals in the past year to almost $60 billion, the most for a 12-month period since December 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Drugmakers from Actavis Plc to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (VRX) -- and now Mallinckrodt -- are broadening their suites of drugs through takeovers that immediately boost earnings with the help of lower corporate tax rates in countries such as Ireland.

Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, Melco Crown Entertainment and other Macau casino companies fell hard early Monday on a report that total gambling revenue so far in April is below forecasts because of rugged weather. Caesars Entertainment (CZR), which doesn't own casinos in Asia but is the largest U.S. casino operator, was down 2%.

Symbol: CZR

Trailing PE: NA; Forward PE: NA

PEG: NA

Dividend: NA

Estimate Trend: Flat

Ransom Note Trendline: Avoid Caesars Entertainment