Small-Cap Winners & Losers: Xerium

Small-cap stocks took a plunge along with the broader market Wednesday. The Russell 2000 fell 1.1% to 724.24, and the S&P SmallCap 600 shed 1.2% to 382.47.

Central Garden & Pet (CENT), a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based marketer and producer of lawn and garden products as well as pet supplies, tumbled 36% to $4.44. The company said late Tuesday that high grain costs may cause fiscal 2008 profits to fall short of prior-year results. Management had said on a May 7 conference call that it expected modest year-over year improvements in financial results.

Sonic Solutions (SNIC), a developer of digital media-based computer software, traded to a new 52-week low. The Navato, Calif., company reported non-GAAP fourth-quarter earnings of $2.1 million, or 8 cents a share, vs. $968,000, or 4 cents a share, a year ago. Sonic Solutions also forecast a first-quarter loss of 9 cents a share, below the Street's view of a 1-cent per-share profit. The stock recently slipped 14% to $6.64.

On the winning side, TGC Industries (TGE), out of Plano, Texas, which provides seismic data to oil and natural gas companies, climbed $1.14, or 16%, to $8.37. The company reported that it expects its business backlog to increase substantially from the $46 million it reported at the end of the first quarter.

Also rising, Youngsville, N.C.-based Xerium Technologies (XRM), which supplies products for paper manufacturing, added 11% to $5.51. Citigroup upgraded the stock to buy from hold.

Information technology service provider Stanley Inc. (SXE) surged 10% to $33.76. The Arlington, Va., company announced Tuesday after the close that it would buy Oberon Associates for $170 million in cash.

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