U.S. Stocks retreated on Friday after posting solid gains earlier in the week as financials are weighing on the broader market. Several healthcare stocks are showing unusual swings after their corporate developments at mid day on Friday.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX) extended gains in mid day after being halted for pending news and the stock rose 12.50% to $76.93, after hitting a 52-week high of $77.47. The company said that the FDA has backed the company's Kyprolis for Injection, a multiple myeloma drug. "Today's approval is a significant milestone for Onyx and, most importantly, for patients with advanced myeloma who have few treatment options available to them," said N. Anthony Coles, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Onyx Pharmaceuticals.
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTI) saw share prices soar to a morning session high of $3.85 on trading volume 2051.36 % higher than their daily average before pulling back with the overall markets. The Israeli biotech has been getting attention from analysts and financial bloggers. Investors have been accumulating shares at record pace during the last two sessions, spurred on by both recent and pending news developments.
Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTA) is showing selling pressure after being downgraded by analyst at UBS to Neutral earlier this morning, citing limited near-term catalysts and cash burn following the recent negative court ruling in the Copaxone case. The firm retreated its price target of $15.
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOMX) is under deep selling pressure with the stock slumped 16% to $0.35 after saying its selling approximately 9.4 million shares of its common stock and warrants in a registered direct offering to purchase up to approximately 4.7M shares of its common stock to institutional investors at $0.32 per share and per warrant. Aggregate proceeds from the transaction will total approximately $3.0M.
Cepheid (NASDAQ:CPHD) is another stock which is showing weak performance after the company posted a 38% slump in its second quarter earnings despite strong revenue growth due to increased costs. Moreover the company trimmed its full year earnings estimate to between $0.38 and $0.42, from prior expectations of $0.50 to $0.55.
However, analyst at Baird defended today's fall and call today's fall as a strong buying opportunity , citing CPHD's test menu expansion, highly differentiated positioning and strong base growth; the firm rates shares at Outperform.
CEL-SCI Corporation (AMEX:CVM) shares spiked, retreated but continue to trade 4% higher for the day as consolidation for the stock continues just slightly below the 50-day moving average. A report in The Daily Rising Cashmire (http://www.risingkashmir.in/news/head-and-neck-cancer-30429.aspx) called attention to 11 Indian medical centers which are part of the firm's global Phase III clinical trial involving its investigational product Multikine (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) for Head and Neck Cancer.
Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) added 6.50% to $33.75 as the company posted strong second-quarter earnings. The company earned $28.49 million or $0.34 per share on revenue of $145.63 million, compared to a year ago profit of $11.16 million or $0.14 per share. Adjusted earnings came in at 34 cents a share, ahead of analysts' target by 6 cents. Analysts were estimating revenue of $143.00 million.
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Source: Equity Briefing via Thomson Reuters ONE
