AK Steel, Brinker: Small-Cap Winners

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- AK Steel (AKS) was the most prominent gainer in the small-cap space on Tuesday, jumping 6% to $15.40 after the company issued a favorable outlook for 2011..

More than 19 million shares had changed hands in Tuesday afternoon trading versus the issue's trailing three-month daily average of 7.2 million.

Shares of Brinker International (EAT) was also gaining on heavy volume, rising 10% to $23.13 after its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, topping Wall Street's expectations.

The biggest gainer on Tuesday was a relatively obscure stock -- Cavico Corp. (CAVO), a Vietnam-based infrastructure company listed on the Nasdaq exchange. The stock was up a whopping 69% at $2.85 on news that the company had been awarded a $7.75 million tunnel construction contract. Volume of 3.7 million more than 125 times the issue's trailing three-month daily average volume of less than 30,000.

Tuesday Morning (TUES) was also one of Tuesday's winners, rising 20% to $4.86 after the Dallas-based furniture and homewares retailer forecast earnings of 37 to 41 cents a share for its fiscal 2011 ending in June, ahead of Wall Street's view for a profit of 33 cents a share.

Shares of PluriStem Therapeutics (PSTI) continued to gain momentum, rising 17% to $3.82. The stock is up 40% over the past week, after it said it was moving ahead with final stage trials to see if its stem cell therapy is effective in helping to prevent limb amputations and death.

Shares of furniture retailer Ethan Allen (ETH) surged 9% to $22.80 after its second-quarter results beat expectations Monday and a company executive said third-quarter sales were off to a good start in a conference call with analysts.

Glu Mobile (GLUU), a publisher of social games for smarphones and tablets, was up 13% to $2.60 after it announced that it would be launching its social mobile game on Facebook, Wild Tangent and Hi5.

USA Technologies (USAT), American Apparel (APP) and BioSante Pharmaceuticals (BPAX) were other notable gainers.

--Written by Shanthi Bharatwaj in New York



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