Why SandRidge Energy, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, and Xunlei Jumped Today

Friday was a positive day for the stock market, as investors celebrated the traditionally quiet day after Thanksgiving with solid gains. Sentiment among market participants has been positive throughout 2017, and with early holiday shopping activity showing little sign of any imminent change in that trend, the few investors who were trading in the holiday-shortened session today generally had an upbeat mood. There wasn't much news to move individual stocks, but a few companies did show good gains. SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (NYSE: ASX), and Xunlei (NASDAQ: XNET) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll take a closer look to see what made these stocks do so well.

Shares of SandRidge Energy jumped 8% in the wake of news that activist investor Carl Icahn had become the energy company's largest shareholder. Icahn acquired a stake of more than 13% in the oil and gas producer, and the billionaire investor expressed his view that SandRidge should not go forward with a proposed merger to purchase Bonanza Creek Energy in a deal worth about $750 million. Other institutional investors also oppose SandRidge's move, arguing that the drain on cash would be dangerous for the company. SandRidge shareholders were already less than happy with the deal, but now they apparently think that Icahn could turn the tide and get the company back on track.

Image source: SandRidge Energy.

Source: Fool.com