Icagen, Sequenom: Early Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Several stocks trading near $5 were poised to move on above-average volume during Tuesday's session.

Vantage Drilling (VTG) should see increased trading volume after the offshore drilling contractor posted fourth-quarter revenue of $38.5 million, up sharply from $913,000 in the year-ago quarter to beat the Thomson Reuters consensus target of $34.8 million. Vantage Drilling notched a loss of 2 cents a share in the quarter, matching estimates. The three-month average daily volume for Vantage Drilling is 1.28 million, according to Yahoo! Finance. Shares rallied nearly 3% into Monday's close, finishing at $1.53.

Icagen (ICGN) surged by 46 cents, or 84.8%, to $1 in the premarket session after the biopharmaceutical company reported positive results for its drug candidate ICA-105665 in patients with photosensitive epilepsy. The 50-day average daily volume for is 240,000, according to the Nasdaq.

United Western Bancorp (UWBK) was poised to slide Tuesday after the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.40 a share, although results included an other-than-temporary impairment (OTTI) charge on non-agency mortgage backed securities. FBR Capital Markets analyst Paul Miller estimates that United Western's adjusted loss for the quarter was 41 cents a share, which is worse than the Thomson Reuters average estimate for a loss of 9 cents a share. Credit deterioration continued in the quarter, with the provision for credit losses ballooning to $14.5 million from $10.1 million in the previous quarter. The 50-day average daily volume for United Western is 202,000. The stock closed Monday at $2.28 and were down 4.4% in the after-market session.

Sequenom (SQNM) dropped by $1.46, or 18.8%, to $6.30 in the premarket session after the genetics analysis company posted a fourth-quarter loss of 30 cents a share, which was a nickel worse than the Thomson Reuters average estimate. Revenue fell 11.5% from a year ago to $10.8 million, which was above the $9.1 million consensus. The company said during its conference call for analysts that it would not provide detailed financial guidance through at least the end of 2010. TheStreet's Adam Feuerstein adds that Sequenom also laid out plans to raise more money this year and failed to provide any new details about the development of a fetal gene test for Down's syndrome. The 50-day average daily volume for Sequenom is 4.88 million.

Zagg (ZAGG) was indicated higher after the hand-held device accessory maker posted an adjusted fourth-quarter profit of 6 cents a share, which came in above the Thomson Reuters average estimate for earnings of 4 cents a share. Revenue jumped 50% from a year ago to $11.3 million, also better than consensus. The 50-day average daily volume for Zagg is 357,000. Shares closed Monday at $3.10 and were up 4.5% in late trading.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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