Friday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

Small-cap stocks outperformed the broader market amid takeout news and positive analyst research.

CKX (CKXE Quote), which holds image rights to Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, as well as proprietary rights to the American Idol series, soared 35.2% to $14.37 after agreeing to be taken private by Chief Executive Robert Sillerman and Simon Fuller (CEO of a CKX subsidiary) for $13.75 a share in cash. Investors will also receive shares in Sillerman affiliate FX Luxury Realty, which is expected to develop Las Vegas attractions using certain rights related to Elvis and Muhammad Ali.

Everlast Worldwide (EVST Quote) leapt 13.4% to $26.25 after agreeing to sell itself to The Hidary Group for $26.50 a share in cash -- a 14.5% premium to the New York boxing-equipment maker's latest closing price. The $146 million deal should close during the third quarter.

Among those climbing on upgrades, meanwhile, was electrical-components maker Technitrol (TNL Quote). Longbow Research upped the Trevose, Pa., company to buy from neutral, primarily citing improved operating profitability at its Pulse subsidiary. Shares jumped $1.90, or 7.2%, to $28.24.

Piper Jaffray, moreover, started coverage on electronics distributor Brightpoint (CELL Quote) with outperform while Needham & Co. gave biotech Arqule (ARQL Quote) a new buy rating. Shares of the companies were respectively higher by 4.8% and 1.9%.

But pharmaceutical company Labopharm (DDSS Quote) was prominently on the losing side, plunging more than 50% to $3.10 on a regulatory delay regarding its once-daily formulation of pain treatment tramadol. The Food and Drug Administration said that, due to certain statistical deficiencies in analysis of clinical data, the drug's efficacy wasn't adequately proven. This is the second approvable letter the FDA has sent Canada-based Labopharm regarding this tramadol formulation; the first was sent last September.