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Featured on today's hot stocks to watch list are an interactive entertainment company, a struggling smartphone maker showing real signs of life, and an agricultural company aimed at growing with an acquisition deemed a perfect fit.
Find out what made shares of these hot stocks and three others move on Monday.
Hot Stocks on the Move Today: AAPL, KING, BBRY, and More
Kicking off today's hot stocks to watch list is King Digital Entertainment Plc. (NYSE: KING). Shares of the company behind the addictive mobile game Candy Crush Saga rose some 3.7% to $23.27 intraday, just cents away from its 52-week high of $23.48. Last week, KING shares traded above its initial public offering price of $22.50, up some 54% from lows endured in the IPO's aftermath amid concerns over growth and staying power. Sending shares higher Monday was a bullish upgrade from Piper Jaffray. The firm hiked its rating on the stock to "Overweight" from "Neutral." The rating boost comes as KING prepares to release Candy Crush Soda Saga, an extension of its original hit. Bulls maintain that even if Soda isn't a big seller like the original, KING has already hooked players who will spend money on its other games. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter believes a much larger percentage of Candy Crush players will play more than one KING game when Soda is available, thus pushing up KING's revenue and earnings.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) is next up on today's list of movers. ADM, one of the world's biggest corn, soybeans, wheat, and other crops dealers, just announced its biggest deal to date. The Decatur, Ill.-based company is buying Switzerland-based Wild Flavors GmbH for about $3 billion in cash (2.2 billion euros). "ADM and Wild Flavors will create one of the leading flavor and specialty ingredient companies in the world, with sales approaching $2.5 billion and significant room to grow," ADM Chief Executive Officer Patricia Woertz said in a statement. Analysts call the buy a "perfect fit." ADM shares climbed 2.05% to a 52-week high of $46.72 in mid-afternoon trading.
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