Tuesday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

Small-cap stocks pulled upward with the rest of the market Tuesday amid climbing names like Simulations Plus (SLP Quote), which jumped 13% on positive results for the quarter ended May 31.

The Lancaster, Calif., company, which makes software for pharmaceutical research and education, posted a profit of $782,000, or 9 cents a share -- 4 cents higher per share than last year -- on revenue that leapt 47.1% to $2.6 million. The analyst who follows the company was looking for just 7 cents a share on sales of $2.3 million, as per Thomson Financial. Shares closed up $1.30 at $11.30.

Oil-and-gas driller Penn Virginia (PVA Quote) was also in the green after closing two property acquisitions valued together at $32.5 million. One, located in east Texas, contains estimated proved reserves of 19.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent; the other, in Mississippi, has 11.2 Bcfe. Penn has a roughly 76% average net revenue interest in the former property, and about 80% in the latter.

Shares of the company finished up 3.5% to $42.03 in support of both the Russell 2000, up 0.4% to 848.20, and the S&P SmallCap 600, which added 0.2% to 438.60.

On the other hand, HandHeld Entertainment (ZVUE Quote), maker of Zvue handheld media players, plunged more than 22% in heavy trading after issuing some $1.4 million in unsecured bonds. The proceeds will go to future acquisitions and general working capital purposes. Shares of the San Francisco company closed down 58 cents at $2.