Stocks fell for a third time in four days this week as concerns about the growth of the global economy took center stage, sending oil prices lower. With crude prices down 0.64%, energy stocks were drags on major U.S. benchmarks, as highlighted by declines of 1.2% for the S&P 500 and nearly 1% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.5%.
All 10 of the sectors tracked within the S&P 500 finished the day in the red. In addition to energy, other Thursday sector offenders included financial services and telecom names.
Even with the Thursday doldrums, Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP), SL Industries, Inc. (NYSEMKT:SLI) and Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) fought off that gloominess to emerge as three of today’s best stocks.
Relypsa Inc (RLYP)
Shares of Relypsa soared 67.3% on volume that was about 10 times the daily average on news the maker of treatments for blood disorders is courting buyers. RLYP makes a treatment for the blood disorder hyperkalemia.
RLYP’s primary competitor in the space was recently acquired by AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN), leading to speculation that RYLP could be a takeover target.
Citing unidentified sources, Reuters reports RYLP is working with an investment bank and that discussions to sell the company are in formative stages and may not result in a sale of RLYP.
SL Industries, Inc. (SLI)
SL Industries climbed 18.3% after the maker of power electronics agreed to be acquired by Handy & Harman Ltd (NASDAQ:HNH) for $158.4 million, or $40 per share. HNH already owned a quarter of SLI.
The $40 per share offer is a 19% premium to where shares of SLI closed yesterday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
HNH told the Journal it first purchased shares in SLI nearly 25 years ago.
Wynn Resorts, Limited (WYNN)
Wynn Resorts, the operator of the Wynn and Encore casinos in Las Vegas, jumped 11.7% on volume that was more than double the daily average after the company sounded a bullish tone on Macau. Macau, a former colony of Portugal and now a Chinese territory, is the world’s largest gambling hub.
Earlier this week, WYNN forecast first-quarter Macau profits of $187 million to $195 million, down from $212.3 million last year. Revenue will be $603 million to $613 million, down from $705 million.
On Thursday, Telsey Advisory Group boosted its price target on WYNN from $67 to $112.
“We are particularly focused on the strong expectations for the Palace and resulting earnings growth and cash flow inflection. As such, we generally maintain our 2016 estimates and increase our 2017 Ebitda forecast to $1.602 billion from $1.352 billion. We are upgrading our rating to Outperform and raising our price target to $112,” said the research firm in excerpts of a note posted by Barron’s.
At the time of this writing, Todd Shriber did not own any of the aforementioned securities.
