Stocks tumbled Friday after Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said the Federal Reserve should not wait too long to raise interest rates. Friday went down as the worst day for U.S. equities in nearly three months.
The S&P 500 closed the week with a loss of 2.45% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.13% today. The Nasdaq Composite sank 2.54%.
On a brutal day for broader benchmarks, El Pollo LoCo Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LOCO), Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:LXRX) and Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc (NYSE:RH) were easily three of the day’s best performers.
El Pollo LoCo Holdings Inc (LOCO)
Shares of fast-food chain El Pollo LoCo Holdings Inc rose nearly 1.6% on more than six times the average daily volume on news the company will join a major small-cap equity index.
After the close of U.S. markets on Sept. 12, LOCO will enter the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, one of the most widely followed small-cap benchmarks. Active fund managers that benchmark to that index will need to add shares of LOCO.
LOCO will also “be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Restaurants Sub-Industry index,” according to a statement.
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (LXRX)
Shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. soared 16.6% on roughly 20 times the usual volume after the company said its diabetes treatment sotagliflozin showed favorably in a late-stage clinical trial.
LXRX’s treatment is aimed at patients with Type 1 diabetes, a smaller market than Type 2 diabetes. However, LXRX said it is looking to start trials for the drug for Type 2 treatment this year.
“Sotagliflozin significantly reduced A1C, a type of hemoglobin used to measure glucose levels in plasma, in patients with Type 1 diabetes,” reports Investor’s Business Daily.
French pharma giant Sanofi SA (NYSE:SNY) partners with Lexicon on the diabetes treatment.
Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc (RH)
Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc added nearly 3.1% on more than quadruple the average daily volume after the company delivered solid fiscal second-quarter earnings.
For the quarter, RH earned 44 cents per share on revenue of $543 million. Analysts expected RH to earn 29 cents per share on sales of $529 million.
For the full year, RH forecast EPS of $1.60-$1.80 on sales growth of 1%-3%.
As of this writing, Todd Shriber did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
