5 of Last Week's Biggest Winners

Updated

What's better than momentum? Mo' momentum.

Let's take a closer look at five of this past week's biggest scorchers.

Company

Aug. 24

Weekly Gain

My Watchlist

Hain Celestial (NAS: HAIN)

$69.75

26%

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Qihoo 360 (NYS: QIHU)

$23.08

24%

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Ctrip.com (NAS: CTRP)

$17.11

20%

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Daktronics (NAS: DAKT)

$9.51

19%

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First Solar (NAS: FSLR)

$24.77

17%

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Source: Barron's.


Hain Celestial shot up to the heavens after posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and announcing the acquisition of Britain's Premier Foods' sweet spreads and jellies business. The $316 million deal is exciting because Hain Celestial has a way of broadening the shelf space and retail exposure of the smaller brands that it snaps up.

Qihoo 360 posted encouraging quarterly results, but it was reports of its nascent search engine gaining market share in China that won over investors. Qihoo 360 provides online security solutions and is the company behind China's top Web browser.

There's no company-specific news driving shares of Ctrip.com higher, but shares of China's leading travel website operator climbed for seven straight trading days before retreating a bit on Friday.

Daktronics rang up a winning score after the electronic scoreboard maker posted blowout quarterly results. Daktronics' profit of $0.16 a share was four times greater than the $0.04 a share that analysts were expecting.

First Solar continues on a tear that began when it posted a strong earnings report earlier this month.

More winners for you
It was a great week for these five stocks. If you want to get an early read on some of tomorrow's major gainers there's a special report on three hidden winners in a booming industry. The report is free -- like this article -- but it won't be around forever, so check it out now.

There's also a premium report out on First Solar, diving into the solar star's challenges and opportunities. A year of updates is included in the premium research.

The article 5 of Last Week's Biggest Winners originally appeared on Fool.com.

The Motley Fool owns shares of Ctrip.com International and Hain Celestial Group. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Hain Celestial Group and Ctrip.com International. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz calls them as he sees them. He does not own shares in any of the stocks in this story. Rick is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.

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