Top Small Cap Companies To Own For 2015

On Monday, shares of small cap�Rocket Fuel Inc (NASDAQ: FUEL) took off like a rocket by surging 18.96% after plunging about 20% on Friday after earnings���meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock as well as benchmark it with the performance of�the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL) and the PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PBS).

What is Rocket Fuel Inc?

Despite its name, small cap Rocket Fuel Inc has nothing to do with rocket fuel or the energy sector because the company delivers a ��eading programmatic media-buying platform at big data scale designed to use the power of artificial intelligence��to improve marketing ROI in digital media across web, mobile, video, and social channels.�Specifically, Rocket Fuel Inc's Advertising That Learns��platform is used to achieve measurable business goals across a diverse array of campaigns across web, mobile, social and video channels; brand and direct response objectives, and diverse industries from luxury cars to groceries. The company currently has 19 offices worldwide�and�customers across North America, Europe and Japan.�

Top Small Cap Companies To Own For 2015: bebe stores inc.(BEBE)

bebe stores, inc. engages in the design, development, and production of women?s apparel and accessories. Its products include a range of separates, tops, dresses, active wear, and accessories in career, evening, casual, and active lifestyle categories. The company markets its products under the bebe, BEBE SPORT, bbsp, and 2b bebe brand names targeting 21 to 34-year-old woman. As of July 2, 2011, it operated 252 retail stores, and an online store at bebe.com in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Japan, and Canada, as well as 60 international licensee operated stores in south east Asia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Russia, Mexico, and Turkey. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Brisbane, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maria Armental and Anna Prior]

  Bebe Stores Inc.(BEBE) said Chief Executive Steve Birkhold resigned and the board named Jim Wiggett, who has been advising the struggling retailer, as interim CEO. The women’s apparel and accessories retailer plans to begin the search for a permanent successor.

• [By CRWE]

  bebe stores, inc. (Nasdaq:BEBE) reported that its Board of Directors declared bebe�� quarterly cash dividend of $0.025 per share. The dividend is payable on December 4, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 20, 2012

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Bebe Stores (NASDAQ: BEBE) shares declined 10.40% to $5.77 after the company reported a 5.7% drop in its Q3 same-store sales and issued a downbeat Q3 outlook.

Top Small Cap Companies To Own For 2015: KongZhong Corporation(KONG)

KongZhong Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireless interactive entertainment, media, and community services to mobile phone users in the People's Republic of China. It also involves in the development, distribution, and marketing of consumer wireless value-added services, including wireless application protocol, multimedia messaging services, short messaging services, interactive voice response services, and color ring back tones. In addition, it offers interactive entertainment services, such as mobile games, pictures, karaoke, electronic books, mobile phone personalization features, entertainment news, chat, and message boards; and through Kong.net offer news, community services, games, and other interactive media and entertainment services; and sells advertising space in the form of text-link, banner, and button advertisements. Further, the company develops and publishes mobile games, including downloadable mobile games and online mobile games cons isting of action, role-playing, and leisure games. As of December 31, 2009, it had a library of approximately 300 internally developed mobile games. Additionally, it develops online games; and provides consulting and technology services, as well as media and net book services. The company was formerly known as Communication Over The Air Inc. and changed its name to KongZhong Corporation in March 2004. KongZhong Corporation was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top losers in the sector included China Unicom (Hong Kong) (NYSE: CHU), off 4.5 percent, and Kongzhong (NASDAQ: KONG), down 4.7 percent.

  Top Headline
  The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit. Boeing's quarterly profit declined to $965 million, or $1.28 per share, from a year-ago profit of $1.11 billion, or $1.44 per share. Its adjusted earnings surged to $1.76 per share compared to $1.73 per share. Its revenue climbed to $20.47 billion versus $18.89 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.57 per share on revenue of $20.24 billion. For the full year, Boeing expects adjusted earnings of $7.15 to $7.35 per share.

Top Machinery Companies To Invest In 2015: Rackspace Hosting Inc(RAX)

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. operates in the hosting and cloud computing industry. It provides information technology (IT) as a service, managing Web-based IT systems for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as large enterprises worldwide. The company?s service suite includes dedicated hosting comprising customer management portal and other management tools that manage data center, network, hardware devices, and operating system software; and cloud computing that enables customers to provide and manage a pool of computing resources, as well as delivery of computing resources to business when they need them. It offers cloud servers, cloud files, and cloud sites, as well as cloud applications, such as email, collaboration, and file back-ups; and hybrid hosting that provides a combination of dedicated hosting and cloud computing services. The company also offers customer support services. It sells its service suite through direct sales teams, third-party channel partners, an d online ordering. The company was formerly known as Rackspace.com, Inc. and changed its name to Rackspace Hosting, Inc. in June 2008. Rackspace Hosting, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  This is the part of the cloud market where Google competes��nd where Google cuts prices. The public cloud sector is dominated by Amazon.com (AMZN) with Microsoft (MSFT), Google, IBM (IBM), and Rackspace Hosting (RAX) competing for the Number Two slot.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Ouch, dude. That swan dive came from cloud computing specialist Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX  ) , based on a disappointing earnings report with a weak next-quarter outlook. The company is waist-deep in moving old customers over to the new OpenStack platform, leaving less resources for seeking out new contracts. So revenue jumped 20% year-over-year to $362 million, but Wall Street had expected $367 million. Rackspace rarely publishes quarterly guidance, but the second-quarter sales range provided this week sits 3% below analyst targets.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) recently added a huge new customer in Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR). In January Emerson started using Rackspace to help tune and monitor climate control products for residential and commercial customers. Adoption has gone so well that Rackspace expects Emerson to hike its commitment from 43 servers today to 100 by year’s end. The consensus price target for the stock is posted at $52. The stock closed at $50.60.

Top Small Cap Companies To Own For 2015: ATA Inc.(ATAI)

ATA Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides computer-based testing services in the People?s Republic of China. It offers services for the creation and delivery of computer-based tests utilizing its test delivery platform, proprietary testing technologies, and testing services; and provides logistical support services relating to test administration. The company?s computer-based testing services are used for professional licensure and certification tests in various industries, including information technology (IT) services, banking, securities, teaching, and insurance. Its e-testing platform integrates various aspects of the test delivery process for computer-based tests ranging from test form compilation to test scoring, and results analysis. ATA also provides career-oriented educational services, such as single course programs, degree major course programs, and pre-occupational training programs focusing on preparing students to pass IT and other vocational certification tests; test preparation and training programs and services to test candidates preparing to take professional certification tests in securities, futures, banking, insurance and teaching industries; online test preparation and training platform for the securities and banking industries; and test preparation software for the teaching industry. In addition, the company offers HR select employee assessment solution, an online system that utilizes its proprietary software and an inventory of test titles to help employers improve the efficiency and accuracy of their employee recruitment process. As of March 31, 2010, it had contractual relationships with 1,988 ATA authorized test centers. The company serves Chinese governmental agencies, professional associations, IT vendors, and Chinese educational institutions, as well as individual test preparation services. ATA Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Industrials stocks gained Friday, with ATA (NASDAQ: ATAI) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG), with shares up 22 percent, and Korn/Ferry International (KFY), with shares up 12 percent. In trading on Friday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.36 percent.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Industrials stocks gained Friday, with ATA (NASDAQ: ATAI) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG), with shares up 22 percent, and Korn/Ferry International (KFY), with shares up 12 percent. In trading on Friday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.36 percent.

Top Small Cap Companies To Own For 2015: 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 WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Panera has defied the odds and proven skeptics wrong for many years. The stock also held up much better than its peers during the financial crisis. This doesn�� mean Panera is as resilient now as it was at that time, but�this should at least offer some comfort. On the other hand, it�� nice to own a stock that pays a dividend during difficult times, which�can help ease the pain.

• [By James O'Toole]

  Panera Bread (PNRA) is the latest chain to introduce automated service, announcing last month that it plans to bring self-service ordering kiosks as well as a mobile ordering option to all its locations within the next three years. The news follows moves from Chili's and Applebee's to place tablets on their tables, allowing diners to order and pay without interacting with human wait staff at all.

• [By Andrew Marder]

  This morning, Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) had one of those stock price charts where it appears as though the apocalypse came along, and the market just disappeared. The weak earnings report that the company released yesterday sent the shares down almost 7% overnight, after a 2% drop late in trading on Tuesday. Panera now trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.7, pulling it closer to its competitors.

Top Small Cap Companies To Own For 2015: Petroquest Energy Inc(PQ)

PetroQuest Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas company. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of oil and gas properties in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, as well as onshore and in the shallow waters offshore the Gulf Coast Basin. As of December 31, 2009, the company had estimated proved reserves of 1,931 thousand barrels of oil and 167,361 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. It owned working interests in 9 net producing oil wells and 277 net producing gas wells. PetroQuest Energy was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  PetroQuest Energy Inc. (NYSE: PQ) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

  Rubicon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN) was downgraded to Underperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Top Small Cap Companies To Own For 2015: 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 Laura Brodbeck]

  Notable earnings released on Monday included:

  Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported third quarter EPS of $0.52 on revenue of $1.11 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.13 on revenue of $905.09 million. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) reported third quarter EPS of $1.52 on revenue of $7.32 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $1.43 on revenue of $7.15 billion. Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) reported third quarter EPS of $0.83 on revenue of $7.50 billion, compared expected EPS of $0.82 on revenue of $7.50 billion. Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ: TXN) reported third quarter EPS of $0.56 on revenue of $3.24 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.52 on revenue of $3.39 billion.

  Pre-Market Movers

Top Small Cap Companies To Own For 2015: 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 Lauren Pollock]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday’s session are Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN), Active Network Inc.(ACTV) and Harvest Natural Resources Inc.(HNR)

Top Small Cap Companies To Own 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 Bryan Murphy]

  Had shares of its peers and competitors performed as well, it may not even be worth bringing up. But, Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares have done significantly better than FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) since the end of March. And, PLUG has performed considerably better than FCEL and BLDP have since mid-August. This is more than "just a little volatility." This is a leader breaking away from the pack after a very long lull. Thing is, there's plenty more room for Plug Power to keep running.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  If you are looking at fuel cell stocks and wondering whether FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL  ) , Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ: BLDP  ) , or Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG  ) will come out on top, just remember this: FuelCell Energy is the only one in this group that is betting solely on fuel cells as a means of power generation rather than energy storage.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap hydrogen fuel stocks Hydrogenics Corporation (NASDAQ: HYGS), FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FCEL), HyperSolar Inc (OTCMKTS: HYSR) and HydroPhi Technologies Group, Inc (OTCMKTS: HPTG) are some of the lesser known small caps that are�working with hydrogen fuel or hydrogen fuel cell related technology. I should say that small cap hydrogen stocks are not for risk adverse investors as there are considerable unanswered questions about hydrogen fuel related technology and whether it can be a viable green technology given the fueling infrastructure needed along with the�energy and expense involved in creating hydrogen�(Note: None of these small cap�stocks are profitable at ). But any new technology will pose the same types of risks for early stage investors���especially if its so-called green technology.�

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Bloomberg via Getty ImagesSteelcase, a leading maker of office furniture, reports this week; its earnings are a bellwether of how corporate America is faring. You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a pair of leading office furniture companies reporting on the same day to a popular used-car seller showing off its showroom, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- New Energy for the New Week: The new trading week kicks off with FuelCell Energy (FCEL) reporting. The builder of fuel cell power plants reports its latest quarterly results after the market closes on Monday. It's been 10 years since FuelCell completed its first commercial fuel cell plant installation. Business is starting to pick up, as it has as many orders over the past two years combined as it did during the eight previous years combined. Revenue should continue to grow as FuelCell grows closer to profitability. Tuesday -- Lone Wolf: Disney's (DIS) "The Lone Ranger" was a flop earlier this year. It failed to break $90 million in domestic box office receipts, and the $260 million it amassed in gross ticket sales worldwide wasn't enough to offset its massive production budget and cinematic distribution. Disney had fared well with Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski before. The two teamed up for the blockbuster success of Disney's "The Pirates of the Caribbean" movie series. It convinced a jaded audience to return to the local multiplex for a movie about swashbucklers. But it couldn't revive the Western genre this time around. Despite being a box office bomb, "The Lone Ranger" will get a chance at new life in the home market. It comes out on Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday. Wednesday -- Office Space: When it comes to stocks, it's safe to say that Steelcase (SCS) and Herman Miller (MLHR) aren't exactly the busy bees of the exchanges. On a typical day you w