1. 1. 3 Tech Stocks That Soared This Week
2. 2. Qorvo announced a fresh share buyback policy on Wednesday. Shares soared immediately.
3. 3. The radio chip expert formed from the merger of TriQuint and RF Micro Devices had exhausted its old $200 million buyback authorization. The company retired 3.1 million shares in 6 months, at an average price of $63.80 per share. The new program allows Qorvo to spend $400 million on buybacks in the open market and private transactions. The big move
4. 4. "Qorvo has excellent long-term growth prospects, a healthy balance sheet and the ability to generate increasing free cash flow. "The Qorvo Board of Directors and management team believe the repurchase of our common stock is an excellent use of capital that creates additional value for our stockholders." Why now? Bob Bruggeworth, Qorvo CEO Image source: Qorvo.
5. 5. The bulk of Mindbody's rise came on Monday. That day, the stock rose 11% on news of a fresh partnership.
6. 6. The maker of cloud-based tools for running a gym, spa, or hiking center hooked up with micro-financing expert LendingClub. Mindbody CEO Rick Stollmeyer is excited about offering small business loans from LendingClub to his clients, who often run into red tape looking for traditional business financing. This convenient capital source can help a significant number of potential customers make the leap to actually running a business. That's one handy way to grow your target market. What's going on?
7. 7. Honestly, this is not a one-way street. Both LendingClub and Mindbody are very young companies. Mindbody shares have gained 6.7% in total since its IPO in June 2015. LendingClub hit the public market in December 2014. Since then, the stock has fallen 42%. The partnership may help both companies drum up new business. It could also be a dead end if one partner falls away. In short, this jump rests on a bit of speculation and wishful thinking. Don't bet your house on this business relationship. Watch out!
8. 8. Etsy's 26% jump makes sense only if you also consider last week's 34% plunge.
9. 9. Here's the bigger picture: Two extreme weeks
10. 10. The online marketplace for handmade goods missed second- quarter analyst estimates last week. The stock plunged 13% the next day. This week, shares simply started climbing back up for no particular reason. Etsy shares are incredibly volatile to begin with. Remember when Google simply mentioned the company in an earnings call, sparking a 31% share price boost the next day? This week's action is more of the same. Investors and analysts hardly know this business yet -- give them time, and the jumpy stock might settle down. Extreme volatility
11. 11. The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something at its recent event, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat. We think this stock has nearly unlimited room to run for early-in-the-know investors!