Mid-Afternoon Market Update: OrganiGram Rises Following Q1 Results; Nektar Therapeutics Shares Plummet

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.39% to 29053.32 while the NASDAQ rose 0.23% to 9,272.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.20% to 3,289.71.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 1.2% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PG&E Corporation PCG, up 7%, and Clearway Energy Inc CWEN, up 3%.

In trading on Wednesday, financial shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.

Goldman Sachs Group reported fourth-quarter earnings of $4.69 per share Wednesday, missing the Street estimate of $5.46. The company reported quarterly sales of $9.96 billion, beating the Street estimate of $8.51 billion.

Goldman Sachs reported fourth-quarter investment banking revenue of $7.6 billion, down 7% year-over-year; global markets revenue that was higher by 2% year-over-year; and flat year-over-year asset management revenue.


Equities Trading UP

Fluent, Inc. FLNT shares shot up 39% to $3.05 after the company issued Q4 and FY20 sales guidance above analyst estimates.

Shares of Cemtrex, Inc. CETX got a boost, shooting up 95% to $2.2979 after the company late Tuesday reported a year-over-year increase in FY19 sales and gross profit. The company today announced the receipt of $700,000 in new video surveillance systems orders for municipal buildings.

OrganiGram Holdings Inc OGI shares were also up, gaining 46% to $3.15 after the company announced Q1 results. The company reported net revenue of CA$25.2 million ($19.3 million), up 102% year-over-year from $12.4 million. The company achieved positive adjusted EBITDA in the quarter of CA$4.9 million versus adjusted EBITDA of CA$6.8 million in the first quarter of 2019. OrganiGram's net loss from continuing operations was CA$0.9 million or CA$0.006 per share on a diluted basis, versus net income of CA$29.5 million or CA$0.195 per share in the first quarter of fiscal 2019.


Equities Trading DOWN

Nektar Therapeutics NKTR shares tumbled 18% to $23.02 following a negative verdict handed down by FDA staffers for its opioid pain drug. San Francisco-based Nektar said a joint sitting of the Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee, which discussed the NDA for its oxycodegol, earlier codenamed NKTR-181, did not recommend approval. The company expressed disappointment at the disapproval of the Adcom committees, having created oxycodegol specifically to help the patients as well as physicians address the opioid abuse epidemic.

Shares of Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. ACOR were down 12% to $2.0701 after the company issued preliminary FY19 total net product revenue guidance of roughly $178 million, and FY20 sales at $130 million-$160 million versus the $143.9 million estimate.

Estre Ambiental, Inc. ESTR was down, falling 44% to $0.3390.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $57.98, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,553.60.

Silver traded up 1.4% Wednesday to $17.99, while copper fell 0.3% to $2.866.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.01%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.17%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.69% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.18%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.14% while UK shares rose 0.27%.

Economics

The Producer Price Index rose 0.1% for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2% increase.

The Empire State manufacturing index rose to 4.8 in January, versus prior reading of 3.5. However, analysts expected a reading of 3.55.

U.S. crude supplies dropped 2.5 million barrels for the week ended January 10, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a gain of 500,000 barrels. Gasoline supplies rose 6.7 million barrels, while distillates supplies increased 8.2 million barrels for the week.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its Beige Book report.

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Posted In: EarningsNewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Afternoon Market Update
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