Lions Gate, AVI Biopharma: Early Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) was one of several stocks trading near $5 poised to move on above-average volume Wednesday after the company posted full-year earnings results.

Lions Gate said late Tuesday it had a fiscal 2010 loss of $19.5 million, or 17 cents a share, narrowing from the year-ago loss of $178.5 million, or $1.53 a share. Revenue increased to $1.58 billion from $1.47 billion in fiscal 2009.

Lions Gate said adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization totaled $128.5 million, compared to a negative $122.9 million in fiscal 2009.

The earnings announcement came after billionaire and activist investor Carl Icahn extended his hostile to buy Lions Gate for $7 per share to June 16. The tender offer was to expire Tuesday. Icahn also removed the condition requiring at least 50.1% of shares to be tendered. Lions Gate shareholders again rejected the bid, as the company called Icahn's tender offer "financially inadequate."

Lions Gate shares slipped by 13 cents, or 1.9%, to $6.70 in Tuesday's after-market session. The three-month average daily volume for Lions Gate is 984,000, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Elsewhere, AVI Biopharma (AVII) surged by 19 cents, or 13.7%, to $1.58 in the premarket session after the company said its experimental drug AVI-4658 showed positive results in a clinical study to treat a subgroup of patients with Duchenne muscle dystrophy, which is caused by a failure to produce a protein called dystrophin.

AVI Biopharma said top-line biopsy data showed generation of dystrophin-positive muscle fibers in more than 50% of normal in patients suffering from the muscle-wasting disease. The 50-day average daily volume for AVI Biopharma is 1.21 million, according to the Nasdaq.

DivX (DIVX) was also poised to rally sharply higher after Sonic Solutions (SNIC) said it would acquire the digital media company for $3.75 in cash and 0.514 a share of Sonic common stock for each share of DivX.

DivX shares were jumping by $2.06, or 29.6%, to $9.01. The 50-day average daily volume for DivX is 270,000.

Local.com (LOCM) rose by 53 cents, or 7.1%, to $8.01 in the premarket session after the company raised its second-quarter and full-year guidance above the Thomson Reuters average analyst estimate. The 50-day average daily volume for Local.com is 251,000.

Local.com said it now expects second-quarter earnings of 19 cents to 20 cents a share on revenue of $22.3 to $22.8 million, compared with the consensus target of a profit of 17 cents a share on revenue of $20.6 million. For the full year, Local.com expects revenue of $87 million to $90 million, which is well above the Thomson Reuters average estimate of $82.8 million.

Iridium Communications (IRDM) shares were also higher, up $1.23, or 14.1%, to $9.94 in the premarket session. Iridium announced its plan for funding, building and deploying its next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT. The 50-day average daily volume for Iridium is 358,000.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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