Superconductors Fuel Super Frenzy

Apparently, it’ll take more than a dive in the Dow to stop this feeding frenzy:

Shares of telecom-equipment maker Superconductor Technologies Inc. (ticker symbol: SCON) surged 44% on Friday after the Santa Barbara company said it plans to demonstrate a product to increase the range of cellular-telephone networks.

Superconductor Tech jumped $20.63 to $67.50 on Nasdaq.

The stock has risen almost 14-fold since the start of the year, although Superconductor Tech reported a loss of $1.56 a share in 1999.

Shares of companies developing superconductor technology were boosted this week after Microsoft Corp.’s Money Central Web site said the industry could have “explosive growth.”

“It’s a frenzy,” said Douglas Adams, a Davenport & Co. analyst who follows the industry.

Money Central also helped set off the recent mania for fuel-cell stocks.

Superconductor technology allows electricity to flow with little energy loss through materials cooled to very low temperatures, so it’s attractive to wireless-communication and power companies because it makes them run more efficiently.

The company’s filtering product cuts interference in cell-phone networks to prevent calls from being lost, its developers said. The company plans to demonstrate the product next week at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Assn. show in New Orleans.

Other stocks in the sector zoomed as well Friday, with Conductus Inc. (CDTS) rocketing $17.94 to $66.88 and Illinois Superconductor Corp. (ISCO) rising $3.81 to $17.44.