Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Versartis Inc. plummet 82% late Thursday after the biopharmaceutical company said its drug somavaratan failed to meet its primary endpoint in a phase 3 trial. The drug, a form of human growth hormone that seeks to treat growth-hormone deficiency, failed to demonstrate superiority to Genotropin, an offering from Pfizer Inc. , in a study focusing on pediatric growth-hormone deficiency. “We are very surprised and disappointed to learn the outcome,” Chief Executive Jay Shepard said in Thursday’s announcement, adding that the company planned to provide a corporate update later this year. Versartis shares have gained 27% in the past three months, more than 10 times the gains for the S&P 500 Index in the same period, and nearly 45% so far this year.

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The Federal Stability Oversight Council may decide to remove federal oversight of American International Group as early as Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar the the matter. The outcome of whether AIG will continue to be considered a systemically important financial institution — which subjects the insurer to Federal Reserve oversight — isn’t certain, the report said. Shares of AIG, which was bailed out by the federal government during the financial crisis, edged higher in after-hours trade.

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Former New England Patriot football player Aaron Hernandez showed signs of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain diseased associated with trauma linked to playing football, according to an examination conducted by Boston University. A neurological examination of Hernandez’s brain performed by Dr. Ann McKee, professor of pathology and neurology at BU, said based on her findings, Hernandez showed signs of stage 3 or 4 CTE, representing the most severe form of the disease, according to a news release. Hernandez was found not guilty on double homicide charges in April. He was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in a separate trial that took place in 2015. Five days after his not-guilty verdict, the ex-Patriot was found dead in his cell of an apparent suicide. A number of former NFL players have been diagnosed with CTE. Hernandez’s lawyer is said to be filing a lawsuit against the National Football League related to the BU findings, according to Deadspin.

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Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that the company is taking additional steps to protect election integrity on the its platform. Facebook stock edged down less than 1% after hours to $171.05. “So today I want to share the steps we’re taking to protect election integrity and make sure that Facebook is a force for good in democracy,” he said in a Facebook Live video. “While the amount of problematic content we’ve found so far remains relatively small, any attempted interference is a serious issue.” Among other measures, Zuckerberg promised to add 250 people across the company that are focused on security and safety, which would include doubling the current team working on election security. The Facebook executive also said the company plans to make political advertising “more transparent” by forcing advertisers to disclose which page paid for ads and also will let its users see any ads a page is running across all audiences on its platform. Facebook plans to work more closely with election commissions around the world and share more information with other tech and security firms. “… We are in a new world. It is a new challenge for internet communities to deal with nation states attempting to subvert elections. But if that’s what we must do, we are committed to rising to the occasion.” This year Facebook shares have risen 35.7%, as the S&P 500 index increasing 9.9%.

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Texas Instruments Inc. shares rose in the extended session Thursday after the chip maker’s board raised the quarterly dividend by 24% and added a hefty share buyback authorization. Texas Instruments shares rose 1.5% to $87.35 after hours. The company will raise its quarterly dividend to 62 cents a share from 50 cents, with the new dividend payable Nov. 13 to shareholders as of Oct. 31. Texas Instruments’s board also added $6 billion in share repurchase authority, in addition to the 44.6 billion in purchasing authority that remained at the end of June 2017.

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McDonald’s Corp. said late Thursday its board of directors has approved a 7% dividend increase to $1.01 a share, payable Dec. 15 to shareholders of record Dec. 1. That’s the company’s 41st consecutive dividend increase. McDonald’s shares fell less than 0.1% in after-hours trading after ending the regular session down 0.5%.

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Shares of Presidio Inc. fell more than 5% late Thursday after the IT company missed fiscal fourth-quarter revenue expectations. Presidio said it earned $10.4 million, or 11 cents a share, in the quarter, versus a net loss of $7.4 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $30.6 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with $23.4 million, or 25 cents a share, in the prior-year quarter. Revenue fell to $729 million, from $754 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 32 cents a share on sales of $737 million. The shares ended the regular trading session down 0.4%.

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Sanderson Farms Inc. said Thursday it is increasing its quarterly dividend by 8 cents to 32 cents a share. The poultry producer’s board also declared a special dividend of $1 a share. The regular dividend and the special dividend are payable Oct. 17 to shareholders of record Oct. 3. Sanderson Farms shares rose 0.5%.

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Facebook Inc. said it will release ads to Congress that appeared to have come from Russia and were aimed at influencing the U.S. election. Facebook had already announced it was handing them over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller but had resisted providing them to Congress. But Facebook still won’t release them to the public. “We believe the public deserves a full accounting of what happened in the 2016 election, and we’ve concluded that sharing the ads we’ve discovered, in a manner that is consistent with our obligations to protect user information, can help,” Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch said in a statement.

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Senate Republicans have rewritten an Obamacare repeal bill in an attempt to win the support of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, according to a report Thursday. Independent Journal Review said a new draft of legislation from Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana includes three provisions that would benefit Alaska, including continuing Obamacare premium tax credits. Murkowski is a swing vote on the bill, which may come up for a vote next week.

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