Diamonds and Dogs




5/9/13
Rackspace Hosting Inc. (RAX)Rackspace Hosting is getting crushed today, down 24.68% at $39.35. The cloud computing company saw its shares trade in the red today after releasing their earnings. For the first quarter, Rackspace announced an EPS of $0.19 on revenue of $362.2 million versus analysts' estimates of $0.17 and $366.6 million, respectively. Investors have been weary of slowing growth and the miss on earnings is solidifying investors' worries. CFO Karl Pichler said, "Building a lasting, successful business is our number one priority. However, our immediate focus is on restoring our growth trajectory." Rackspace shares traded to a new 52-week low of $38.31 intraday.
Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS)
Barnes & Noble shares are exploding today, up 24.37% at $22.10. The bookstore company saw its shares jump after news that Microsoft was interested in buying the company's Nook. The technology website TechCrunch reported that Microsoft, which already owns a 17 percent stake in Nook Media, was proposing a $1 billion offer to buy all of Nook's digital assets. Barnes & Noble had previously said it planned to break away from the Nook and gear the company toward distributing content (last year, B&N spun off their Nook Tablet division into a separate company called Nook Media LLC). The news of the possible buyout help Barnes & Noble shares reach a new 52-week high of $22.79 intraday.