Top Performing Stocks for the Week Ended Jan 30

The five best performing stocks on the Zacks #1 Rank List last week were: LaBranche & Co. Inc. (LAB), Open Text Corporation (OTEX - Snapshot Report), Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (MFLX - Snapshot Report), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD - Analyst Report) and Novo Nordisk A S (NVO - Snapshot Report).

LaBranche & Co. Inc. (LAB) has experienced a 50% rise in earnings estimates for this year over the past month. The company was featured as an Aggressive Growth Stock of the Day at Zacks.com on Jan 28. LAB was a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company for the week ended Jan 30 as shares advanced 13.2%.

The company recently announced fourth-quarter net income per share of 41 cents on a pro forma basis, compared to 4 cents in the year-ago period. Furthermore, the result beat the consensus estimate by more than 140%.

Open Text Corporation (OTEX - Snapshot Report) is a Focus List stock that reported a solid fiscal second-quarter performance last week, which included a year-over-year gain in total revenue of 14% to $207.7 million. Earnings per share also advanced from the previous year, while also eclipsing the consensus by approximately 10.7%. The company has an excellent record of surpassing Wall Street's quarterly profit expectations, amassing an average surprise of more than 9.7% over the past 4 quarters.

OTEX made the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List for last week as shares gained almost 10%. In reaction to the quarterly performance, analysts have boosted earnings estimates for the fiscal year ending June 2009 by 7% over the past 7 days. Expectations have increased by 15% over the past 3 months. OTEX is the world's largest independent provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software.

Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (MFLX - Snapshot Report) is scheduled to report its fiscal first-quarter results on Feb 5, and earnings estimates have moved higher in anticipation. In January, the circuit board maker raised its guidance for the soon-to-be-announced quarter, sending earnings estimates for the year ending September 2009 up by approximately 31% over the past 30 days. Expectations for the year ending September 2010 advanced in the past month as well. It also announced a share repurchase program. For its fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported earnings per share that surpassed analyst expectations by almost 79% while easily topping the year-ago result.

Shares of MFLX moved higher by 6.4% last week, which was enough to place it on the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List. This Focus List stock was the Momentum Stock of the Day at Zacks.com on Jan 30, and is also featured in this week's Earnings Preview as a company that could issue a positive earnings surprise.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD - Analyst Report) reported solid fourth-quarter numbers last week, helping shares to gain 5.2%. That gain made this biotech company a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company for the week ended Jan 30. Earnings estimates for this year are up 3.4% in 2 months, including a gain of 2% in the past 7 days. Furthermore, analysts currently expect profit for next year to advance from this year by as much as 14%.

GILD's HIV treatments were the big drivers for its strong fourth-quarter performance. Earnings per share of 60 cents beat the consensus by more than 9% while also eclipsing the year-ago performance of 41 cents. Total revenues advanced 30% to $1.43 billion from $1.09 billion. Some of the highlights in the quarter included sales increases of 25% for Truvada and 79% for Atripla.

Novo Nordisk A S (NVO - Snapshot Report) announced solid results for its fourth quarter recently, which has helped earnings estimates move higher of late. Expectations for this year are up 4.2% over the past 2 months, including a gain of 2 cents in the past 7 days. For next year, estimates are up 2.6% and 1.1%, respectively, in those timeframes. Analysts currently expect next year's profit to advance almost 17% from this year. The company made the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List for last week with a gain of 5.1%.

Earnings per share for its fourth quarter more than doubled from the previous year, due to strong sales for its insulin products. The company still expects double-digit growth in both sales and operating profit for 2009, and is increasing its long-term financial targets. Based in Denmark, NVO is a healthcare company and a world leader in diabetes care. It also manufactures and markets a variety of other pharmaceutical products.

Read the full analyst report on GILD

Read the full analyst report on LAB

Read the full analyst report on MFLX

Read the full analyst report on OTEX

Read the full analyst report on NVO