Hot Stocks: Dow Jones, 24/7 Real Media, Among Big Movers

M&A speculation and earnings news were some of the catalysts behind Tuesday's most actively traded stocks.

Shares of Dow Jones surged more than 50% after CNBC's David Faber reported that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. submitted an unsolicited $5 billion bid for the publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

Faber, citing sources familiar with the matter, said News Corp. has offered to pay $60 a share to acquire the company, a substantial premium to Dow Jones closing price of $36.33 on Monday.

News Corp. made the bid in a letter sent two weeks ago to both the company's board of directors and the Bancroft family, which owns about 62% of voting stock. Dow Jones issued a brief midday statement confirming the offer.

Shares of 24/7 Real Media jumped more than 20% on speculation that tech giant Microsoft may be interested in acquiring the Internet advertising company.

Wireless equipment maker Atheros Communications rose to a new intraday record in early trading Tuesday after reporting first-quarter results above Wall Street expectations.

On the losing side, Circuit City Storesplunged after the company cut sales forecasts for the second time in a month. The electronics retailer said Monday after the close that sales are trending well below expected and expects a before-tax loss of $80 to $90 million in the first quarter.

Citigroup analyst Bill Sims told clients there "may be more bad news to come" and downgraded shares to "hold" from "buy" and cut his price target to $17 from $26. "Circuit City’s transaction close rates are deteriorating and market share is falling, two factors that lead us to believe a turnaround will be slower to materialize," Sims wrote in a report Tuesday.

Business software firm BEA Systems hit a new 52-week low after the company cut first-quarter sales guidance, citing weakness in North and South America. BEA said it expects quarterly sales in a range of $342 to $347 million, below analysts' forecast of $358 million.