Wednesday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

The cheery broader market propelled small-cap stocks higher Wednesday, and among the biggest winners was Pericom Semiconductor (PSEM Quote).

Shares soared more than 34% after fiscal first-quarter income vaulted to $3.9 million, or 15 cents a share, from last year's 6 cents a share. That easily beats analysts' 11-cent per-share estimates, according to Thomson Financial. The San Jose, Calif., company also brought in $38.5 million in sales, a 24.8% rise from last year and about $4.4 million above consensus. Pericom shares were up $4.04 to $15.80.

That helped boost both the Russell 2000, recently up 0.6% to about 821, and the S&P SmallCap 600, which was gaining 0.4% to roughly 427. Both trackers soared earlier before getting temporarily jerked down immediately following the Federal Reserve's decision to cut its key fed funds rate by 25 basis points. ...