Monday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

Small-cap stocks opened Monday with a drop but recently recovered to trade slightly in the black, mirroring the major indices' erratic performance. The Russell 2000 Index was up a point at 768.82, and the S&P SmallCap 600 Index was up even less, at 399.40.

Shares of Gevity HR (GVHR) rose 24% to $5.28 on an upgrade from JPM Securities. The Bradenton, Fla., human resources firm now rates market outperform, up from market perform.

Meanwhile, life-science systems manufacturer Bruker Biosciences (BRKR) was gaining 16% to $10.80 after it announced it was buying the Bruker BioSpin Group for roughly $914 million in cash and stock. Privately held Bruker BioSpin manufactures life-science analytical research systems using magnetic resonance core technology. Bruker BioSciences expects the resulting company to report 2007 pro forma revenue of over $900 million.

On the losing side, BearingPoint (BE) shares sank 21% to a record low of $2.87 as the McLean, Va.-based consulting firm reported third-quarter results and a regime change. BearingPoint posted a loss of $68 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with a loss of $30 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting a loss of 11 cents a share. Perhaps in light of the results, the company also announced the departure of CEO Harry You, who will be pursuing other opportunities, and the appointment of current COO Ed Harbach.