3 Stocks to Watch on Friday: Amgen, Inc. (AMGN), Gap Inc (GPS) and PriceSmart, Inc. (PSMT)

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Overall, stocks had a rough Thursday as gold rose 1.4% and financial equities fell 1%. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%.

3 Stocks to Watch on Friday: Amgen, Inc. (AMGN), Gap Inc (GPS) and PriceSmart, Inc. (PSMT)Several companies were making headlines ahead of Friday’s action, including Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) and PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT).

Amgen, Inc. (AMGN)

Amgen enjoyed a big win yesterday.

The pharmaceutical company was happy to hear that a federal judge ruled in favor of a patent filed by the company that would give it a monopoly over a drug that at least two other companies were looking to release with a different name.

Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) were planning on selling a competing cholesterol drug, but the judge ruled against the two companies.

The medication is called Praulent, which is the Sanofi and Regeneron version of it. In 30 days, the two companies will not be able to sell this drug. Amgen’s Repatha is the only drug of its kind that will exist in the market. AMGN shares popped 4.4% after the bell Thursday.

Gap Inc (GPS)

Gap helped to buck the weak holiday retail period by reporting quarterly results that came in well ahead of expectations.

Comparable store sales were especially strong for the apparel retailer as they boomed 4% year-over-year in December. Analysts were calling for a 1.7% drop in this category. Gap-owned Old Navy saw its sales skyrocket 12% year-over-year, well ahead of the 2.3% that Wall Street was calling for. Banana Republic comp sales, however, fell by 7%, worse than the -5.3% projected by analysts.

The company also updated its adjusted earnings per share for the full fiscal year, which Gap previously expected to hit as much as $1.92 per share. As a whole, the retail industry suffered a harsh winter. GPS stock surged 8% Thursday.

PriceSmart (PSMT)

PriceSmart stock was slightly higher after the bell as the company posted its most recent financial results.

For its first quarter of the new fiscal year, the retailer revealed that it earned $24.9 million, or 82 cents per share, which is a 5% rise year-over-year. Wall Street was calling for earnings of 81 cents per share.

Revenue did not meet the consensus estimate as PriceSmart raked in $739.6 million over the three-month period, missing expectations by $3.7 million. The figure was still 3.9% higher than the year-ago quarter’s total.

Warehouse club sales, which make up most of PriceSmart’s revenue, were 3.7% higher. The company blamed a 4% hike in operating expenses for sales failing to reach their target.

PSMT shares gained 0.7% Thursday after the day’s market close and are now surging 5.25% higher this morning.

As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/01/3-stocks-watch-friday-amgen-inc-amgn-gap-inc-gps-pricesmart-inc-psmt/.

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