By Stockpickr Staff
Posted at 11:44 a.m. EDT on April 14, 2009

The S&P 500 is off roughly 40% since its October 2007 peak of 1,550, signaling the worst bear-market since 1933. But there are always stocks and companies that buck the prevailing trend of analyst and investor estimates, both on the upside and downside.

Even in this volatile market, this includes stocks making 52-week highs and lows. Recently, such stocks as Netease.com (NTES) and Siga Technologies (SIGA) are making new highs, and stocks including Abbott (ABT) and Arena (ARNA) are making new lows.

Let's take a closer look at a few of these stocks.

52-Week Highs

Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions (MDRX): It's not at a 52-week high, but this health care and financial services company did hit a six-month high last week. It has had a 52-week trading range of $4.20 to $15.96, and is currently trading at $10.80, up about 8% year-to-date and more than 100% since the end of October 2008.

From Aug. 11 to Oct. 24, shares of Allscripts fell almost 80% as fears of reduced health care margins, coupled with potentially looming congressional oversight, put pressure on all valuations across the sector.

On Feb. 10, 2009, in a show of financial strength, Allscripts announced that the company will buy back $150 million worth of common stock and will look to sell its medication services business. On March 9, the medications unit, which focuses on point-of-care management and medical supply services for physicians, was sold for $25 million.

Broadpoint Securities Group (BPSG): As a new era of non-TARP-taking investment banks takes hold, shares of Broadpoint Securities, a boutique investment bank, have gained about 68% over the past year and are up 27% year-to-date. From the third quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008, annualized revenue at Broadpoint Securities went from just $35 million to $202 million, and revenue per employee went from $208,000 to $842,000 in the same timeframe.

Unlike Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup, Broadpoint is focused principally in the advisory business.

Central Garden & Pet (CENT): This lawn and garden company, which hit a 52-week high on April 13, has had a yearly trading range of $2.17 to $8.87 and is currently trading at $8.33, up 42% year-to-date and more than 100% on the year.

For full-year 2007, total companywide sales were $1.7 billion, with operating income of $99.4 million. Central Garden’s garden segment generated $778 million of sales, with operating income of $45.6 million, which equates to 5.9% gross margins. Central Garden’s pet segment generated $893 million in sales, with operating income of $94.3 million, equating to gross margins of 10.6%.

Debt within Central Garden’s capital structure is certainly a point of concern. The company has only $8.86 million in cash, yet it has $491.1 million dollars in debt, which accounts for more than a third of the total market capitalization of the company. Recently, Central Garden & Pet a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss of $13.9 million dollars, or 20 cents per share, vs. $1.7 million, or 2 cents a share, just a year ago. Adjusted upward regarding onetime items and expenses, sales reached $414 million from $401.3 million, which equated to 6 cents per share in profit.

O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY): This secondary end-market auto-repair company, which hit a fresh 52-week high last week, has had a yearly trading range of $20 to $38.12 and is currently trading at $35.99.

O’Reilly Automotive's fourth-quarter profit rose 5%, and sales jumped a whopping 85% as the acquisition of CSK Automotive took its full affect. For the quarter, O’Reilly earned $42.7 million, or 32 cents per share, compared with a $40.6 million, or 35 cents per share, for the same quarter last year. O’Reilly gave full-year 2009 guidance of adjusted profit of $1.83 to $1.87 per share, which was slightly higher than Wall Street’s estimates of $1.79 per share.

Generally speaking, automotive repair companies stand to benefit from not only the trend of more cars on the road then even but also the potential Chapter 11 filing for General Motors (GM)]

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR): This company hit a fresh 52-week high on April 14 of $54.39 . The shorts are betting heavily against Green Mountain. The stock has risen more than 58% over the past year, and renewed speculation of a potential takeover by Starbucks (SBUX) and an additional coffee contract from McDonald's (MCD) loom over the company. In total, more than 54% of Green Mountain shares are sold short, which means that those investors will profit if Green Mountain declines in value.

With the stock trading with a forward P/E of 31.8, price to sales of 2.3 and EV/EBITDA of 22.6, it is clear that long investors in Green Mountain are hoping for substantial growth ahead.

Netflix (NFLX): Lastly, shares of Netflix have been on a total tear this year, ranging from $17.90 to $50.24. Netflix hit another 52-week high on April 13 and is currently trading at $46.54.

Netflix is constantly one step ahead of its competition. Its management team was the first to realize the market for home delivery DVDs, and the company has moved aggressively into online streaming, securing the rights to many popular shows and movies. Most recently, it signed an exclusive deal with the creators of South Park for the rights to stream all episodes of the first nine seasons of that show.

Netflix has the capital and the management team to continue its dominance in both home delivery rental DVDs and online streaming.