53% of Area Firms Post Stock Gain in Quarter : Investments: Thirty-eight companies in the Valley region showed advances for the period ended June 29, matching the stock market’s mood.

Stock prices for slightly more than half of the public companies in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas rose during the second quarter, matching a modest gain in the overall stock market.

Of 72 publicly held companies in the region--which stretches from Glendale to Oxnard--38 stocks, or 53%, saw their stock prices rise in the three months that ended June 29. Twenty-six of those stocks rose 10% or more.

But 30 stocks declined, while four were unchanged.

In the second quarter, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 2880.69 for a modest gain of 1.06%, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose closed at 358.02, up 1.05%.

The gainers in the second quarter were varied. Some of the best performances were turned in by computer concerns, a financial services company, an entertainment firm, a retailer and a biotechnology company.

The biggest gainer in the second quarter was Tandon Corp., whose stock jumped 96% to close at $3.06 per share last Friday. The once-thriving Moorpark computer company had seen its stock fall from a high of $34.25 a share in 1983 to a mere 50 cents a share last fall, thanks to persistent losses stemming from its computer disk drive business. But sales of Tandon’s personal computers in Europe fueled a comeback as the company earned $7 million on sales of $105 million in its first quarter ended March 31. In the same period a year earlier, Tandon lost $9.86 million on sales of $92.7 million.

Another strong performer was Players International, whose stock closed the quarter at $5.88 per share, up 84% during the period. Investors were apparently encouraged by news that the Calabasas company, which operates a club providing discounts for gamblers at Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos, would soon market telephone call-in versions of the TV game shows “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” After a congressman’s announcement that he would seek an investigation of the 900-number business, however, the stock slid from a high of $8.50 a share, although it has since recovered somewhat.

The stock of Spear Financial Services Inc. climbed despite the company’s $7,340 loss for the quarter that ended March 30. The tiny Glendale-based insurance products marketer and stock brokerage saw its shares climb 77% to $2.88 per share after it announced that one of its subsidiaries had signed a letter of intent with an unnamed prospective client that could “substantially increase” the unit’s revenues.

Micropolis Corp.’s stock jumped 70% to $7.88, apparently on signs that the company has brought losses under control. Micropolis, a Chatsworth disk drive maker, lost $1.1 million on sales of $75.9 million in the first quarter ended March 30, compared to a loss of $13.3 on sales of $80.6 million a year earlier. Micropolis was hurt by price-cutting and technology changes in the computer disk drive business, but the company said its orders were running 10% higher than a year before.

After escaping a takeover last winter, Syncor International Corp. saw its stock climb 42% to close the second quarter at $9.25. Syncor, a Chatsworth company that supplies radiopharmaceutical products to hospitals, said that its earnings for the quarter that ended Feb. 28 nearly quadrupled compared from a year earlier, to $649,000. The company last September turned down a $77-million buyout bid and in November adopted a “poison pill” takeover defense. Another rumored potential buyer sold its stake in Syncor in January.

The stock of Live Entertainment, a Van Nuys entertainment conglomerate, climbed steadily throughout the quarter, closing at $23.75, up 42%. The stock hit a low of $13.38 last November, about two months after the company’s chairman, Jose Menendez, and his wife were slain in their Beverly Hills home. But steady results and some recent acquisitions seem to have reassured investors.

Apparently boosted by higher profits and a stock-buyback program, the stock of House of Fabrics, a Sherman Oaks fabric retailer, rose 40% to close at $24.50 last Friday. The company’s profit in the first quarter that ended April 30 soared 61% to $2.2 million, while sales rose 9% to $86.4 million. In April, House of Fabrics announced a new plan to scrap its dividend and buy back 16% of the common stock in the company.

Among losers, Martin Lawrence Limited Editions saw its stock fall 44% to $4.38 on Friday. The Van Nuys art retailer announced last week that it expected its earnings for the second quarter that ended June 30 to fall as much as 75% from a year earlier. The company blamed the results on a softening art market and slow consumer spending.

Another big loser was Traditional Industries, an Agoura Hills company that markets packages of cameras and developing services. Traditional’s stock plunged 60% to close the quarter at $1.06 per share. The company’s losses increased to $5.46 million for the nine months ended March 31 from $4.66 million a year earlier, while sales dropped 8% to $40.8 million. Traditional blamed the loss partly on an increase in sales canceled by customers. Traditional agreed with the Federal Trade Commission last August that it would let some customers cancel their purchase of the photo packages, which are often paid for by installment credit.

TransTechnology saw its stock plummet 41% to $6.63 per share. The Sherman Oaks company, whose far-flung operations include industrial and defense units, announced a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $4.6 million, and an $8.4-million loss for the full year ended March 31. The company also suspended its dividend as part of a revised credit arrangement with its bank lenders.

The stock of The Foothill Group, a commercial and industrial lender with executive offices in Agoura Hills and Los Angeles, closed the quarter at $4.13 after sinking 30%. Foothill said on Friday that it would report a net loss of between $3.8 million and $4.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, thanks to about $5.4 million in writeoffs in its investment portfolio, which includes some junk bonds.

Everest & Jennings’ stock fell 26% during the second quarter to close at $4 per share last Friday. The Camarillo wheelchair maker has lost much of its market share in recent years to newer companies, and announced in April that after a preliminary audit, it expected to report a loss of $41 million--including the charges of a restructuring--on sales of $192 million for the year ended Dec. 1, 1989.

10 BIGGEST VALLEY AREA STOCK WINNERS FOR 2ND QUARTER

Closing Price on Percent Stock 6/29/90 Change Line of Business Tandon $3.06 +96% Computers Players Int’l $5.88 +84% Entertainment Spear Fin’l Svcs $2.88 +77% Stock brokerage Micropolis $7.88 +70% Disk drives Software Toolworks $18.50 +42% Software Syncor Int’l $9.25 +42% Pharmacy Live Ent. $23.75 +42% Entertainment House of Fabrics $24.50 +40% Fabric stores Tekelec $14.75 +37% Telecommunications Com Systems $4.38 +35% L-D carrier

Note: Excludes stocks whose March 30, 1990, price was below $1.50 a share

Source: Media General Financial Services, Inc., Richmond, Va.

10 BIGGEST VALLEY AREA STOCK LOSERS FOR 2ND QUARTER

Closing Price on Percent Stock 6/29/90 Change Line of Business Traditional Ind. $1.06 -60% Photography Martin Lawrence $4.38 -44% Art TransTechnology $6.63 -41% Defense Pollution Research $0.94 -40% Pollution monitors Foothill Group $4.13 -30% Financial Services Networks Elec. $3.25 -28% Aerospace Everest & Jennings A $4.00 -26% Wheelchairs Brajdas $3.00 -25% Electronics Hotel Investors Trust $4.00 -20% Real estate Mortg & Realty Trust $6.13 -18% Real estate

Note: Excludes stocks whose March 30, 1990 price was below $1.50 a share