The key stock indices are down this afternoon, continuing a trend that started earlier in the day. At the moment, the Dow is down by 0.23%, NASDAQ by 0.15, while the S&P is hovering between positive and negative territory. The lack of momentum is due to market uncertainty with regards to the second bailout that senate republican leader Mitch McConnell tabled.
The bill would offer a major lifeline for an economy that has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mixed earnings from major corporations have also dampened the mood in the market. For context, Mcdonald’s missed earnings expectations while Pfizer recorded an increase in sales. Other companies that have reported earnings today include Harley-Davidson, which became a loss-maker for the first time in a decade.
Nonetheless, the market has some support from positive news with regards to progress on the COVID-19 vaccine. Yesterday, Moderna announced that it was now in the late-stage testing for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Despite the mixed market sentiment, there are winners that have gained exponentially for the past few hours. Some of the day’s biggest winners are as below:
Eastman Kodak Company [NYSE:KODK]
Eastman Kodak Company is one of the top gainers this afternoon and is currently up by 224%. This follows news that the company has been given a $765 million loan to make drug ingredients, with the goal of helping reduce the country’s dependence on foreign supply chains. The U.S International Development Finance Corp said that it would sign a letter of intent with the company. Commenting on the deal, White House trade advisor stated that this was the first in the U.S move towards establishing independence from international supply chains for pharmaceuticals. With the loan, Kodak will launch Kodak Pharmaceuticals, a company that will make key pharmaceutical components.
Vocera Commmunications Inc [NYSE:VCRA]
Vocera Communications Inc is another top gainer this afternoon and is up by 39%. The stock’s rally follows the release of strong Q2 results. The company has reported that Q2 revenues stood at $47.3 million, beating analyst expectations of $40 million. This represents an EPS of $0.10, higher than the net loss of an EPS of $0.06. The company noted that the strong results were due to a number of large strategic deals. The company also announced that it had deferred revenues of $127.5 million and had a full slate of software deployments.
Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc [NASDAQ:MFH]
Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc is another top gainer this afternoon and is currently up by 33%. The company’s strong performance is purely driven by speculative price action. The last time the company had major news was on July 10th when it announced that it was bolstering its board.
