AMLN, CIT, AAI, CAL, UAUA, BGFV, KOPN, PRGO Popular Stocks
U.S. stocks traded mixed Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17% to 9729 but the S&P 500 fell 0.15% to 1035 and the Nasdaq Composite droped 0.43% to 2036.
Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AMLN, $12.19, +$1.15, 10.42%) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. entered an exclusive agreement to develop and market obesity treatment products. Amylin will get $75 million up front from Takeda and could get milestone payments of up to $1 billion. Meanwhile, the FDA late Friday approved extended use for Amylin’s Byetta as stand-alone therapy with diet and exercise in patients with type 2 diabetes. FDA also updated safety information, adding information about association with acute pancreatitis and didn’t give the drug a black-box warning label. Lazard Capital calls FDA reaction in line with expectations, saying it shouldn’t hurt sales.
CIT Group (NYSE:CIT, $0.262, -$0.458, -63.54%) filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday, in a final attempt to restructure and keep the doors open at the century-old commercial lender. Shares will be suspended prior to Tuesday’s opening.
Next Generation Equity is high on airlines AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AAI, $4.29, +$0.06, 1.42%), Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE:CAL, $11.52, +$0.02, 0.13%) and United parent UAL Corp. (NASDAQ:UAUA, $6.56, +$0.05, +0.76%), raising all to buy on improving risk/reward. Continental is boosted all the way from sell, while AirTran and UAL were neutrals. The firm argued 2010 industry consensus was still too high, but with fare increases and the likelihood capacity will get cut again – and that needs to happen – the airlines have been discounted too much on mere headline news. And firm still believes consolidation is just dormant, not dead.
JMP Securities boosted its rating on Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. (NASDAQ:BGFV, $15.09, +$0.34, 2.31%) to market outperform from market perform, saying customers are responding to value, and that trend should continue. “The company has experienced positive comp-store sales over the past two quarters, outperforming its peers, a trend that we expect to continue helped by increased traffic and improving conversion rates,” the firm noted.
Kopin Corp. (NASDAQ:KOPN, $4.39, -$0.05, -1.13%) reported third-quarter earnings in line with expectations, despite sales falling shy. The maker of ultra-small liquid-crystal displays used in technologies such as digital cameras said that despite a historical weakness in the fourth quarter, it now expects to reach the top end of its revenue guidance for the year.
Perrigo Co.’s (NASDAQ:PRGO, $38.23, +$1.04, 2.80%) fiscal first-quarter earnings soared 61% on strong revenue growth, as the generic drug maker’s results were well above analysts’ expectations and the company boosted its forecast. Separately, the company also said it is selling its Israel consumer-products unit for about $54.4 million, fulfilling its plan to exit the business.
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