Stock Spotlight: Profiles of Southern California public companies

Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. is in the business of managing people, or at least helping other companies do so.

Click through a TV guide on the television or look up a movie online, and there’s a good chance that the information you see was made possible by Rovi Corp.

Some companies run from California’s strict regulatory standards on air pollution and emissions.

Banc of California executives say the financial crisis and recession left a big hole in the state’s banking industry, and it’s an opening they want to fill.

The owner of a company that competes with PCM, which sells information technology products and services, has started buying its stock, raising speculation of a possible takeover.

NuVasive, which develops surgical products and procedures for the spine, expects further growth from expanding middle-class populations in India and China.

With a new chief executive at the helm, fast-food chain Jack in the Box profits from targeting late-night customers as its stock price soars.

Acacia Research, which critics call a ‘patent troll’ that files frivolous lawsuits, says it focuses on helping inventors get a proper share of the profits from the technologies they have developed.

Sempra Energy plans to invest up to $10 billion on a Louisiana facility for exporting liquefied natural gas. It could generate more than $10 billion in revenue a year.

Facing ‘continued challenges in the retail environment,’ the apparel retailer targeting teens and young adults plans to open 18 new stores in 2014, down from 27 in its last fiscal year.

Sport Chalet posts its most profitable quarter in seven years, a sign the sporting goods retailer may be nearing a turnaround.

The nation’s largest healthcare staffing firm expects the Affordable Care Act to boost demand for its services.

The home builder swung to a profit last year amid the housing recovery after emerging from bankruptcy protection in 2012.

Semiconductor and telecommunications firm Qualcomm installs a new leader next month as it seeks to fend off rivals while striving for stronger growth in emerging markets.

The restaurant chain, known for its high-calorie comfort fare, has rebounded from the recession and pushed further overseas but faces higher food costs.

After a tough, cold winter, analysts expect PacSun sales to start heating up.

The builder and operator of natural-gas filling stations is betting that fleet sales of clean-energy vehicles will increase enough to produce the firm’s first annual profit since its 1997 founding.

Citizens Business Bank not only made it through the recession but also a profit while its Inland Empire rivals failed.

The global marketer plans to add to its roster of fashion and lifestyle brands licensed in more than 40 countries. Asia is among the new territories Cherokee is entering.

The Pasadena company, one of the largest of its kind in the U.S., keeps growing by snapping up other engineering, architecture and construction firms.

The L.A. metal service center company, which saw a 39% revenue drop to $5.3 billion in 2009, is expecting about $10 billion in sales this year.

Drug developer MannKind is trying to revolutionize the treatment of diabetes with Afrezza, an inhaled form of insulin powder. It would eliminate the need for most injections.

In a bid to lift sagging sales, fashion firm Guess is refocusing its efforts on denim jeans after diversifying into accessories such as handbags, watches and shoes.

Molina Healthcare, which offers health plans for the poor, expects to double its revenue by 2015 because of the addition of more lower-income people who are eligible for coverage.

Auto and homeowner insurance firm Mercury General is trying to raise premiums for its California customers to offset rising costs, primarily from automobile accidents involving its insured drivers.

Wesco Aircraft, among the world’s biggest sellers and distributors of aerospace parts and components, has focused on drumming up business in the commercial and civilian sectors to keep growing.

Medical insurer Health Net has gone ‘all in’ on Obamacare, joining exchanges in California, Arizona and Oregon, and adding hundreds of employees.

Santa Monica maker of ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘World of Warcraft’ wants to break with French company Vivendi — which owns a majority of its shares — and give itself independence.

On Assignment, a temporary staffing firm for skilled employees — many in the technology field — has posted record sales and profits this year, and its stock price is up more than 60% year-to-date.

The L.A. company started out developing alternative power technologies but is now focused on the more profitable nitrogen fertilizer business.

Premium denim producer Joe’s Jeans has found success with small retail shops in well-placed locations, analysts say.

Jakks Pacific, which competes against fellow Southern California toy maker Mattel and others, desperately needs a blockbuster product. Its sales have fallen five years in a row.

Corinthian Colleges faces a downturn in enrollment at its for-profit colleges as well as regulatory investigations by the SEC and state prosecutors.

The company buys — at low cost — reserves-rich oil fields that the big players are done with. It’s finding new ways to find and extract oil.

Forty years after co-founding a company that buys airplanes and leases them to airlines, Steven Udvar-Hazy is focusing on shorter flights.

Skechers has posted profits in the last two quarters that exceed last year’s total earnings, and the footwear maker is cautiously rolling out a new apparel line.

The Irvine auto website company Autobytel, parent of car.com, may not have Super Bowl ads anymore, but revenue is growing again after its crash in 2008.

Southern California Edison parent Edison International is overhauling its operations in the wake of the bankruptcy of a subsidiary and the closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

Major shareholders of computer chip maker Emulex have urged a sale of the firm, which reportedly hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group to help it evaluate options.

Santa Monica REIT Anworth Mortgage Asset has endured numerous challenges and returned high dividend yields as the real estate market has recovered.

Irvine firm that buys and bundles loans has made it through two major boom-and-bust cycles. It faces a challenge of new rivals.

The Ensign Group has almost doubled the number of nursing and rehabilitative care centers it owns since 2007; its annual revenue soared 76% from 2008 to 2012.

The Santa Ana firm is the ultimate middleman in the IT industry, connecting 1,300 manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung with hundreds of thousands of retailers.

The Huntington Beach chain that specializes in deep-dish pizza and its own craft beer foresees growing to 425 sites from 132. It plans to add 17 this year.

Quiksilver has lost money 6 straight years although the surf apparel firm’s new management team has attracted investors and analysts have praised its turnaround plan.

Dole sold its worldwide packaged-goods units and its Asia fresh-produce business this year to focus on its fresh produce elsewhere in the world.

Drug maker Allergan posted record sales in 2012, with wrinkle remover Botox its top seller, but plans to sell its Lap-Band unit amid falling sales and patient deaths.

The seller of weight-loss, nutrition, hair- and skin-care products has 6,200 employees and 3.2 million independent distributors.

Ceres, which uses advanced plant breeding and biotechnology to make better seeds for biofuels, is working to commercialize its products.