Why Boston Beer, Baidu, and First Solar Jumped Today

The stock market finished the week with a mixed performance on Friday, with major benchmarks moving in different directions but staying generally close to where they started the day. Nevertheless, investors shouldn't make the mistake of thinking the action on Wall Street was quiet. Earnings reports came fast and furious, and many big names made dramatic moves in response to their most recent results. Some of the companies that found themselves on the winning side of the ledger included Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM), Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), and First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), which were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.

Shares of Boston Beer bubbled upward by 13.5% after the craft beer specialist announced its second-quarter financial results. The maker of Sam Adams said that revenue was up just over 1%, but stock buybacks helped to propel earnings per share by 14%, topping what investors had expected to see. Boston Beer also lifted the bottom end of its previous range for full-year earnings, using the strength of sales of alcohol-enhanced sparkling water and tea to overcome weakness in the more traditional beer and hard cider segments. Some investors remain uncertain about whether Boston Beer can keep walking the line between keeping its craft-beer roots and taking advantage of its larger scale to boost profits compared to smaller craft brewers, but the company remains optimistic about its ability to keep growing.

Image source: Boston Beer.

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Source: Fool.com