Hot Stocks to Watch: Today's Biggest Gainers

U.S. markets today (Tuesday) were headed toward another session of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were up more than 40 points by 1:30 p.m., and the S&P 500 was up about 6 points.

Investors remain cautious ahead of Friday's closely watched jobs report. Nonetheless, plenty of equities were moving higher on analysts' actions, company news, and earnings.

Following are 12 of Tuesday's hot stocks to watch.

Today's Hot Stocks List

Balchem Corp. (Nasdaq: BCPC) shares bounced more than 15% to a new yearly high of $61.32 after announcing plans to acquire privately held Sensory Effects for $567 million. Also giving shares a boost was a ratings upgrade to "Buy" from "Neutral" from Sidoti. Based in New Hampton, N.Y., Balchem is engaged in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of specialty performance ingredients and products for the food, nutritional, feed, pharmaceutical, and medical sterilization industries.

Durata Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: DRTX) shares rose more than 5% to $14.69 after a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Committee unanimously recommended approval of Durata's bacterial drug Dalvance for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI). "If approved by the FDA, Dalvance would be the first once-weekly antibiotic for ABSSSI, providing an alternative to current once-or-twice-daily treatments," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Paul R. Edick said in a statement.

Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) shares rose 2% to $61.83 on reports that CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a salary of just $1 in 2013. But on paper, Zuckerberg's wealth surged last year. He holds 426.3 million shares, currently valued at some $25.59 billion, thanks to Facebook's 135% gains over the past 12 months.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) shares rose 3.27% to $16.11 after the automaker reported that sales saw consistent gains across all segments in March. Truck sales showed the biggest gains, with a 4.1% rise. Utilities sales rose 3.6%, and car sales rose 2.6%.