Shares Questcor Corp. (NASDAQ: QCOR) tumbled on Monday after analysts at Favus Institutional Research cut their rating on the stock to “sell” from “buy”, citing concerns over the company’s fiscal first quarter results. In its note to clients, Favus said that should the company fails in meeting or misses Q1 results then it would be not easy to gauge whether the slowdown is due to “external reimbursement pushback or QCOR’s internal reorganization of reimbursement process.” The research firm said that sales could feel the pressure as bulk orders for the Achtar Gel (repository corticotropin injection), which is its primary product, were filled in late fiscal fourth quarter.
Shares of NII Holdings Inc. (NIHD) advanced for yet another day. The wireless communications services provider, known as Netxtel in Latin American markets said on Friday that it will sell its Peruvian business to a Chile based telecom services provider in deal estimated at $400 million. In an effort to enhance shareholders value the Company is looking to exit from business in Argentina, Chile and Peru and focus more on high growth markets such as Mexico and Brazil.
Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASADAQ: BCRX) rallied on Monday. Fresh spate of bird influenza in China has boosted shares of BioCryst. BioCryst develops Peramivir, a treatment for influenza. China’s regulator said that it has expedited the approval process for the drug Peramivir so that country could “satisfy the demand”. In a statement posted on its website, the China’s Food and Drug Administration said on Saturday that the drug is “effective and provides an alternative to patients who cannot inhale or take drugs orally”. So far the lethal H7N9 virus has killed six people in China since March. Should the epidemic worsens in China the shares of BioCryst could even jump higher.
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (ADR) (NYSE: GOL) gained after the Latin America’s low-cost and low-fare airline announced last week (April 5) that it has signed an investment agreement with a private equity firm General Atlantic. According to the deal, General Atlantic, subject to certain conditions will make either direct or indirect investments in Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes’s subsidiary SMILES S.A.
Shares of Lufkin Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LUFK) skyrocketed on Monday after world’s largest electric turbine and jet engine maker GE Company (NYSE: GE) announced that it has agreed to purchase Lufkin Industries in an all cash deal estimated at $3.3 billion. GE will offer$88.50 a share, which represents 38% over LUFK’s closing stock price on Friday. The deal is expected to close by second half of 2013.
EPL Holdings & Gas Inc. (NYSE: EPL) jumped after analysts at Capital One lifted price target for EPL Oil & Gas Inc. to $38 from $32 and upwardly revised rating on the stock to strong buy, citing that the oil-and-gas company “provides investors with an attractive combination of financial discipline, solid oil-production growth and free-cash-flow generation in addition to an established history of hitting its production-guidance targets”
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