Friday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

Updated from 1:59 p.m. EDT with new stock prices

As the broader market remained in positive territory, small-cap stocks struggled Friday, as weak earnings and downgrades weighed on the group's biggest losers.

Oplink Communications (OPLK), which offers optical manufacturing solutions for optical networking components and subsystems, fell to a new 52-week low on guidance for the third quarter of its fiscal 2008. The Fremont, Calif.-based company forecast revenue between $39 million and $40 million, down from January guidance of $41 million to $45 million.

Oplink sees non-GAAP earnings per share between 6 cents and 10 cents, down from previous guidance of 12 cents to 16 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are looking for EPS of 15 cents on $43.4 million in revenue. Piper Jaffray and Needham & Co. downgraded the stock to sell from neutral and to hold from strong buy, respectively. Shares tumbled 28% to $8.65.

Las Vegas gaming company Elixir Gaming Technologies (EGT) lost 16.2% to $1.91 after reporting a fourth-quarter loss of $13.3 million, or 14 cents a share, vs. a loss of $4.8 million, or 16 cents a share, in 2006. Revenue fell year over year to $2.6 million from $3.1 million. Roth Capital downgraded Elixir to hold from buy.

Meanwhile, shares of a Los Angeles real estate investment trust Maguire Properties (MPG) fell to new 52-week lows, shedding 16.1% to $14.33. Deutsche Securities downgraded Maguire to sell from hold after the REIT announced it concluded its strategic review and is no longer considering selling itself.

Noble International (NOBL), an auto parts supplier, reported a widened fourth-quarter loss. The Warren, Mich.-based company lost $5 million, or 21 cents a share, vs. a loss of $2.2 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. The company also slashed guidance for 2008, forecasting earnings per share of 45 cents to 55 cents, below the Street's view of $1.45. Shares hit a new 52-week low, stumbling 15.4% to $6.23.

On the winning side, Kopin (KOPN) shares rocketed 24.1% to $2.73. For the fourth quarter, the Taunton, Mass.-based semiconductor company posted income of $300,000, or breakeven EPS, up from a loss of $2.9 million, or 4 cents a share, in 2006. Revenue rose 38% year over year to $98.1 million.

Also gaining, Xyratex (XRTX), a Havant, U.K., producer of modular enterprise-class data storage technology, saw shares rise 4.5% to $17.86 on first-quarter earnings of $700,000 or 3 cents a share, vs. $11.9 million, or 40 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts were looking for EPS of a penny. For the second quarter, the company guided for non-GAAP EPS between 3 cents and 15 cents, whereas the Street expects 9 cents.

Finally, The Finish Line (FINL) gained 12.8% to $4.86 after the shoe retailer reported non-GAAP fourth-quarter earnings per share of 45 cents, which is down from 51 cents a year ago but higher than the 33 cents analysts were expecting. Same-store sales, or sales from stores open a year or more, decreased 6% year over year, compared to a 5.4% decrease for the fourth quarter of 2006. The most recent quarter was one week longer than the year-ago quarter.

More broadly, the Russell 2000 fell 1.35% to 683.04, and the S&P SmallCap 600 was down 1.12% at 361.82.