Mid-Day Market Update: Rite Aid Surges On Earnings Beat; BioXcel Therapeutics Shares Slide

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.17% to 26925.28 while the NASDAQ fell 0.38% to 8046.63. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.24% to 2,977.78.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares climbed 0.3% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Rite Aid Corporation RAD, up 22%, and Beyond Meat, Inc. BYND, up 11%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 1.3%.

Top Headline

Conagra Brands Inc CAG reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views.

Earnings came in at 43 cents per share, beating estimates of 39 cents. Sales came in at $2.391 billion, versus estimates of $2.48 billion.
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Equities Trading UP

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MRNS shares shot up 30% to $1.7784 after the company announced all patients in the Ganaxolone Phase 2 Refractory Status Epilepticus trial met the primary endpoint.

Shares of Rite Aid Corporation RAD got a boost, shooting up 22% to $9.39 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS results. The company also narrowed FY20 EPS guidance and reaffirmed its sales guidance.

SAExploration Holdings, Inc. SAEX shares were also up, gaining 19% to $2.1610 after the company was awarded a $28 million ocean-bottom marine project.

Equities Trading DOWN

BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. BTAI shares tumbled 18% to $8.09. BioXcel Therapeutics priced 2.303 million share common stock offering at $8.255 per share.

Shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ENTA were down 16% to $59.70. Enanta Pharmaceuticals announced topline results from the Phase 2a ARGON-1 study that evaluated its EDP-305 for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, which showed that the study met the primary endpoint, with a statistically significant ALT reduction of 28 U/L in the EDP-305, 2.5mg arm compared to 15 U/L in the placebo arm at week 12. JP Morgan downgraded the company from Neutral to Underweight and lowered the price target from $86 to $57.

Pearson plc PSO was down, falling 14% to $9.09 after the company announced it now expects adjusted operating profit in 2019 to be at the bottom of the guidance range of £590M - £640M and adjusted EPS at the bottom of the guidance range of 57.5P to 63.0P.
 

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.3% to $55.74, while gold traded up 0.2% to $1,514.80.

Silver traded down 0.4% Thursday to $18.00, while copper fell 0.6% to $2.5965.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.75%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.5%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.86%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.54%, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.76% while UK shares rose 1.3%.

Economics

Gross domestic product increased at an annual pace of 2% in the second quarter, unchanged versus the previous estimate.

Initial jobless claims rose 3,000 to 213,000 in the latest week. However, economists expected a reading of 211,000.

The advance trade deficit in goods increased 0.5% to $72.8 in August. However, economists were expecting a $74 billion deficit. The advanced wholesale inventories rose 0.4% in August, while advanced retail inventories were flat.

The pending home sales index rose 1.6% for August.

Domestic supplies of natural gas climbed 102 billion cubic feet for the week ended September 20, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a gain of 93 billion cubic feet.

Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman Richard Clarida is set to speak in San Francisco, CA at 11:45 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly will speak in San Francisco, CA at 11:45 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Billings, Montana at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George will testify before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington, D.C. at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.