Intuitive Surgical Rises On Upbeat Earnings; Xilinx Shares Slip

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.18 percent to 17,082.38 while the NASDAQ surged 0.41 percent to 4,474.24. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.19 percent to 1,987.23.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Wednesday, healthcare shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.42 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Array BioPharma ARRY, up 17.8 percent, and Oncothyreon ONTY, up 18.9 percent.

Industrials shares fell by 0.09 percent in today’s trading. Top losers in the sector included Layne Christensen Company LAYN, down 6.6 percent, and Knightsbridge Tankers VLCCF, off 5.2 percent.

Top Headline

PepsiCo PEP reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year earnings outlook.

The Purchase, New York-based company posted a quarterly profit of $1.978 billion, or $1.29 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $2.010 billion, or $1.28 per share. Its adjusted earnings came in at $1.32 per share.

Its revenue gained 0.5% to $16.894 billion, while organic revenue rose 3.6%. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.23 per share on revenue of $16.8 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Puma Biotechnology PBYI shares shot up 287.57 percent to $228.78 after the company released positive top line results from its Phase 3 PB272 trial in initial treatment for breast cancer.

Shares of Intuitive Surgical ISRG got a boost, shooting up 14.46 percent to $448.85 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings. Analysts at Raymond James upgraded Intuitive Surgical from Market Perform to Outperform. Biogen Idec BIIB shares were also up, gaining 11.53 percent to $338.68 after the company reported upbeat Q2 results and lifted its FY14 forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Xilinx XLNX were down 14.60 percent to $41.12 after the company reported downbeat Q1 revenue and issued a weak Q2 revenue forecast. BMO Capital downgraded Xilinx from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $60.00 to $42.00.

CONMED CNMD shares tumbled 12.27 percent to $37.48 after the company reported that its board has ended the review of strategic alternatives. The company reported downbeat Q2 results and lowered its full-year outlook. The company’s CEO Joe Corasanti announced that he will be stepping down with former Stryker interim CEO and CFO, Curt Hartman, taking over his position.

Juniper Networks JNPR was down, falling 10.27 percent to $22.27 after the company issued a downbeat Q3 forecast. Bank of America downgraded Juniper Networks from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $34.00 to $28.00.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.55 percent to $102.95, while gold traded up 0.06 percent to $1,308.80.

Silver traded up 0.03 percent Wednesday to $21.02, while copper rose 0.02 percent to $3.21.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 jumped 0.12 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.10 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.20 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.20 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.16 percent while UK shares rose 0.04 percent.

Economics

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 2.40% in the week ended July 18.

Crude inventories slipped 4 million barrels in the week ended July 18, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were projecting a drop of 2.6 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose 3.4 million barrels in the week, while distillate supplies surged 1.6 million barrels.