[ad_1]
The stock market was generally higher on Wednesday, with light trading activity due to Veterans Day. Market participants continued to have high hopes for a cure after the worst of the coronavirus crisis, despite the number of COVID-19 cases continuing at high levels in the United States and in many regions of the world.
Tech stocks have broadly rebounded, giving this segment a much needed boost after falling sharply in recent days. Just before 11:30 a.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJ INDICES: ^ DJI) was up 68 points to 29,489. S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^ GSPC) increased by 26 points to 3571, and the Nasdaq composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^ IXIC) won 178 points to 11732.
There is a title that few people had heard of before today that became the big winner on Wednesday morning. At the same time, however, there is another company that has made a move that has been done countless times before, and investors are not happy that it is happening again. Below, you’ll learn more about these two stocks and what their outlook will look like.
Image source: Getty Images.
A stock of choice
The big winner of the day was Five Prime Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FPRX). The biotech stock climbed more than 250% at the end of Wednesday morning, after rising 350% earlier in the session.
Five Prime is a biotech company that currently has a treatment candidate that it hopes will help fight stomach cancer. The drug, called bemarituzumab, produced strong test results in a Phase 2 clinical trial. Specifically, the researchers were looking to see if the treatment would improve progression-free survival in patients with stomach cancer, as well as median overall survival and overall response rate. Bemarituzumab produced statistically significant improvements in all three parameters.
Five Prime was obviously happy with the positive results, noting that its strategy of targeting what is known as fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 also holds promise in fighting other forms of cancer. The company found that the receptor is overexpressed in many other types of cancer, including some forms of lung, breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer.
Five Prime Partner Zai Laboratory (NASDAQ: ZLAB) also posted solid gains, but its much larger size limited its stock price rise to 14%. Still, the news is good for both companies, and it will be interesting to see what comes next for bemarituzumab and Five Prime’s cancer control.
Aurora Cannabis Goes Pot – Again
Meanwhile, the actions of Cannabis Aurora (NYSE: ACB) withdrew sharply from their recent gains, dropping more than 20%. The downside for pot stock came when the company resorted to a strategy it had used several times before, hurting shareholders each time.
Aurora has decided to take advantage of the recent rise in its share price to raise more capital through a secondary offer. After announcing the offer on Tuesday night, Aurora said it had managed to price 20 million units at $ 7.50.
It’s bad enough that the stock closed at $ 8.30 a share on Tuesday afternoon. The worst part is that the units Aurora sells are not just stocks. Each unit contains one share plus half a warrant to purchase additional Aurora shares at $ 9 per share, with investors having until March 2024 to decide whether or not to exercise their warrants.
Aurora has been ruthless in diluting shareholders with repeated offers. Despite some signs that marijuana stocks could turn the corner, the sale of Aurora units once again reminded shareholders that this may not be the best game on the pot on the market today. .
[ad_2]
Source link