On June 22 Air Transport Group (NASD: ATSG) bought 3.8 million shares from its largest shareholder for  $13.07 a share, a 3% discount to its closing price the previous night. The shareholder, Red Mountain Capital, owned 11.2 million shares as of the end of the first quarter. A private transaction for a large block of shares allows the company to avoid the cost of a secondary offering.

Last week at a brokerage conference Brunswick (NYSE: BC) introduced informal guidance for fiscal 2018. The company sees earnings in a range of $4.55-$4.95 and revenue from $5.2 billion-$5.5 billion. These estimates for 2018 reflect an increase in growth rates from 2017’s 15% earnings growth and 7% revenue growth. Management is clearly positive about the current boating market and prospects for its fitness business. Also, ratings firm Moody’s upgraded Brunswick’s credit rating to investment grade on June 22. The upgrade highlighted the remarkable improvements in Brunswick’s profit margins and specifically noted its diversification to fitness equipment and marine parts as an impetus behind the upgrade. Specifically they note, “We believe the P&A and fitness businesses provide a counter-balance to Brunswick’s highly-discretionary boat and Marine Engine businesses.”

Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) bought Blue Stream Laboratories on June 27. No terms were disclosed so the revenue and earnings from this company are not likely to materially alter Charles River’s near term profits. However Blue Stream Laboratories is a great strategic fit. The deal broadens Charles River’s capabilities in the biosimilar market. Biosimilars are a complex new set of drugs being developed by industry heavyweights like Amgen. They are difficult to develop, test and produce but have the potential to uncover drugs for difficult to treat diseases. Charles River has aggressively been expanding its menu of outsourced clinical services to early stage drug candidates, a huge market. James C. Foster, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Charles River, said, “Our continued investment in expanding our biologics portfolio, through the development of new assays and capabilities, has enabled us to provide a broader testing solution for our clients. This investment is particularly important now, when the number of biologic and biosimilar drugs in development is increasing.”

We once again took to defending our favorite solar stock, SolarEdge (NASD: SEDG), when it was raided by short selling service The Streetsweeper. The Streetsweeper offers several short ideas a week, often with shaky rationales. The Streetsweeper argued that SolarEdge competitor Enphase was cutting prices which would hurt SolarEdge. Enphase has been cutting prices dramatically for over a year and has almost put itself out of business in doing so. Part of the reason we like SolarEdge is that it has improved its technology so that it can offer lower prices to customers but earn a higher profit due to these improvements. We continue to believe the numbers which demonstrate SolarEdge’s competitive advantage. Enphase’s revenue was down 26% in the last quarter and has declined 33% in the last 6 months. It has always lost money but losses ballooned to $34 million in the last 12 months down from a $4 million loss in 2014. Cash is disappearing fast and unpaid bills and losses are piling up. Enphase’s stock, which traded as high as $17 before its technology was trumped by SolarEdge, now bumps along at $2.00 SolarEdge’s revenue grew 61% in the first 9 months of the year. The company has earned $1.48 so far this year and is on track to earn $1.72 for the year ending June up from $.77 last year. The numbers don’t lie. SolarEdge is beating the pants off of Enphase.