Stabilization in the oil market, some dovish comments from Fed Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans and a jobless claims report below 300,000 added more fuel to yesterday’s huge rally, with the major indices rallying strongly once again Thursday.
It was once again off to the races on Wall Street, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 323 points, or 1.84%, with the Nasdaq matching that gain, and the S&P 500 finished ahead by 1.79%. Near the top of the leaderboard today were 3D Systems Corporation (DDD), Global Payments Inc (GPN), and Bind Therapeutics Inc (BIND).
3D Systems Corporation (DDD)
Favorable comments by Brean Capital after meeting with 3D Systems executives this morning pushed DDD stock more than 4% higher. Brean reported that executives believe 2015 will be the year that consumers will begin to purchase 3D Systems’ products through retail outlets. Currently, consumers are only driving about 5% of all DDD sales.
DDD stock has struggled since September, when it hit $52.50 per share, and was recently below $30, before rallying. However, DDD trading below both the 50- and 200-day moving averages. DDD recently announced a collaboration with Hershey Co (HSY) on CocoJet, a chocolate 3D printer.
Global Payments Inc (GPN)
GPN stock gapped up nearly 7% today after reporting second-quarter earnings that were 7 cents better than expected. The electronic payment transaction processing service said the company earned $1.27 on revenue of $697.3 million, a 10% increase year-over-year, and well ahead of the $689.49 million expected by analysts.
Global Payments also raised its 2015 guidance of earnings to between $4.75 and $4.83 per share of GPN stock, besting the Street’s view of $4.72 per share.
Bind Therapeutics Inc (BIND)
It seems like every day another small biotech company reports solid results of a clinical trial and its stock bolts up on heavy volume. Today was no exception, as BIND stock surged more than 37% on heavy volume of 33.6 million shares after Bind announced enrolling its first patient in a mid-stage trial of its ongoing Phase 2 study of BIND-014, for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.
This Phase 2 study was first announced in November, with Bind saying that the study had met its primary objectives. However, the Street was looking for more, and the stock fell from $10.50 in November to $5.50 this week, before today’s announcement. But traders be warned — BIND stock closed near the lows of the day after being up more than 80% in the morning.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts did not hold any positions in the aforementioned securities.
