DayStar, Athersys: Volume Movers

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- DayStar Technologies (DSTI) was one of several stocks trading near $5 poised to move on above-average volume Thursday after the solar products company announced a new financing deal.

DayStar Technologies said several investors agreed to loan the company money in exchange for secured convertible promissory notes and warrants to purchase shares of the company's common stock. The notes are convertible into DayStar common stock at a conversion price of 90 cents per share, while the warrants have an exercise price of $1.25 a share. DayStar said the financing will help fund ongoing research and development and related business operations.

DayStar said the notes have an aggregate principal amount of $800,000, and that it will issue a total of approximately 889,000 warrants to the investors. Among the investors are DayStar Chairman Peter Lacey and Robert Weiss, DayStar's chief technology officer.

In addition, DayStar said it amended terms with other existing lenders that extends the maturity date of all existing notes to Jan. 22, 2011. As part of the amendment, DayStar agreed to reduce the exercise price of all the warrants held by lenders to $1.25 per share.

Last week, DayStar shares rallied more than 85% after the company said it is pursuing a strategy for offshore manufacturing. The move comes after a dispute with its landlord resulted in DayStar's loss of its California address.

Shares of DayStar Technologies dropped by 41 cents, or 16%, to $2.16 in the premarket session. The average daily share volume for is 449,000.

Elsewhere, Athersys (ATHX) jumped by 46 cents, or 16.7%, to $3.22 in the premarket session after the company announced positive Phase I clinical trial results of its allogeneic cell therapy product, Multistem, in heart attack patients.

Athersys said MultiStem was "well tolerated at all dose levels and also suggest improvement in heart function in treated patients." The average daily share volume for Athersys is 60,000.

PC Connection (PCCC) climbed by 54 cents, or 8.5%, to $6.89 in Wednesday's late trading session after the company posted second-quarter earnings of 18 cents a share on revenue of $447.5 million, compared with the consensus target for earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $449.9 million. The average daily share volume for PC Connection is 33,000.

Quality Distribution (QLTY) rose by 54 cents, or 8.4%, to $6.47 in the premarket session after the chemical bulk tank truck company said it had second-quarter earnings of 10 cents a share on revenue of $177.6 million, above the average analyst target for a profit of 7 cents a share on $164.7 million in revenue. The average daily share volume for Quality Distribution is 147,000.

Entropic Communications (ENTR) jumped by 70 cents, or 10.3%, to $7.53 in the premarket session after the company after the company beat second-quarter earnings targets by a penny with a profit of 8 cents a share. Looking ahead, Entropic said it expects third-quarter revenue of $51 million to $53 million above the consensus target of $43 million. The average daily share volume for Entropic is 1.48 million.

LeMaitre Vascular (LMAT) gained 35 cents, or 6.3%, to $5.90 in Wednesday's after-market session after the medical device company said it had a second-quarter profit of 9 cents a share on revenue of $14.2 million, above the consensus of two analysts covering the stock. The company also guided full-year revenue above analysts' targets. The average daily share volume for LeMaitre is 9,000.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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