After opening lower this morning on weak New York manufacturing activity data and oil trading below $42 a barrel, U.S. markets staged a mild rally in the afternoon to finish in positive territory.
The New York Federal Reserve reported that NY Manufacturing Activity fell from 3.86 to a negative 14.92 in August, the lowest reading since April 2009. A negative number indicates a contraction, while the Street was expecting a rise to 5.
A while later, however, the National Association of Homebuilders confidence index rose to 61, the highest it’s been since late 2005. That helped to turn the markets higher, along with a stabilization of oil prices later in the morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq was 0.8% higher. Most sectors were higher on the day, with healthcare leading the pack as the strongest among them.
A handful of companies saw their stocks rise significantly on high volume, including Sprint Corp (NYSE:S), Zulily Inc (NASDAQ: ZU) and Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ: KITE). Those are three of today’s best stocks, but Sprint in particular has been doing very well lately.
Here’s why:
Sprint Corp (S)
Sprint was a big winner today, up 10% after unveiling a new “iPhone Forever” promotion for its customers. The way the plan works, S customers can get the current iPhone from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for $22 a month and upgrade to the next iPhone model, whenever it becomes available.
If customers either switch to Sprint or are eligible for an upgrade, and turn in their old phone before the end of the year, they can pay only $15 for the plan through the end of 2015 until their first upgrade in 2016.
Apple is reportedly going to announce new phones around Sept. 9th. Apple’s current phones are the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Zulily Inc (ZU)
Zulily, an online clothing retailer for children and young mothers, surged 49% higher today after it was acquired by television shopping channel, QVC Group, a subsidiary of Liberty Ventures (NASDAQ:LVNTA), for $2.4 billion. It was a combined cash and stock deal.
Liberty paid $18.75 a share for ZU stock, a huge premium compared to Friday’s closing price of $12.57. Zulily was $22 when its IPO came out in 2013, and was as high as $74 in early 2014. The acquisition is expected to expand QVC’s customer base to a younger market.
Kite Pharma Inc (KITE)
Last week, KITE stock took a big hit after it was disclosed that one of its six subjects in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of KTE-C19 may have died. KITE stock dropped from $77 to $57 in one week.
KTE-C19 is a treatment for refractory diffuse large B-cell (non-Hodgkins) lymphoma, for patients who have not responded to previous chemotherapy. KITE would neither confirm nor deny the death, but did say it would hold a press conference today.
This morning, KITE confirmed the patient’s death, but said it was not related to its KTE-C19 treatment. KITE stock rallied 4% amid that news. Also helping to boost KITE stock was Standpoint Research, which initiated coverage on KITE with a “buy” rating.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
