Stock Surge Stumps Trimedyne, Analysts : Market: Price jumped more than 50% in just two days of trading for no apparent reason. The company has ‘no idea what’s going on,’ but it’s enjoying it while it lasts.

Go figure.

That was the view at Trimedyne Inc. on Wednesday of a mysterious two-day surge in the laser manufacturer’s stock price.

The company’s stock, which has hovered between $5.57 and $6.63 a share for the past month, jumped as much as 51% in the two days’ trading, hitting a high of $8.87 on the NASDAQ market before drifting down to close at $7.13 on Wednesday.

The price fluctuations have analysts and company officials scratching their heads in confusion.

“We have no idea what is going on,” company spokeswoman Kathy Price said Wednesday. “We are watching it with just as much interest as anyone else.”

Most blame the erratic behavior on the perennial peculiarities of Wall Street, which can bless companies as fast as it can curse them. For now, Trimedyne said, it is counting its blessings.

“All of a sudden, we are the darlings of Wall Street,” Price said. “But who knows what will happen next? Next week we can be the bums.”

The company, which last year reached a peak of $15.63 a share, has done its share of time in the bum’s corner. By March, the stock had dropped to less than $10, and it had been sinking ever since.

On Monday, the company’s stock closed uneventfully at $5.87 a share. On Tuesday, however, it gained 36% to close at $8. Trading volume soared 300% to 258,100 shares.

During the roller-coaster ride, the “switchboard began to smoke,” Price said, with incoming calls from concerned analysts, business writers and investors. Such surges usually occur in the wake of takeover rumors or major announcements.

Everybody wanted to know one thing: What was going on with Trimedyne? The company said it had no idea.

“We didn’t put out any press releases or make any announcements,” Price said. By Wednesday, the situation had calmed enough for company officials to attribute the excitement to mere stock-market volatility. “Things have settled down to a dull roar,” she said.

Bob Martin, an analyst with Bear, Stearns & Co. in Century City, said he is as much in the dark as anyone. He speculated that the company may be benefiting from positive feedback on its new prostate laser treatment.

The procedure involves directing a catheter with a laser tip to the patient’s enlarged prostate gland. The laser beam essentially cuts away the enlarged portion of the prostate, clearing any blockage. The patient in many cases is well enough to go back to work within days.

Martin said the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota recently gave the procedure rave reviews, and doctors across the country are beginning to accept the technique as viable. That may have had some effect on the stock price, he said, but does not explain this week’s stampede.

“We are happy,” Martin said, about the jump in the stock price. “But we don’t know why specifically it happened.”