There is high optimism in the equity markets this morning driven by progress on economic bailout talks, and strong earnings by corporations across the Atlantic. Yesterday Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stated that while they were still far off from a deal, they were still going.
Across the Atlantic in Europe, several corporations have reported positive earnings with several others raising their outlook for the year. This points to the resilience of the global markets even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to bite, and is a key factor to stock markets optimism. Markets are also being supported by the upcoming trade discussions on August 15th between the U.S and China. In this environment of improved market sentiment, here are some of the biggest gainers ahead of markets opening:
Aerpio Pharmaceuticals Inc [NASDAQ:ARPO]
Aerpio Pharmaceuticals Inc is a top performer this morning and is up by over 50%. The stock’s rally follows the company’s announcement of the 2nd clinical trial that will help test Razuprotafib in treating ARDS in people with mild to severe COVID-19. The clinical trial is part of the MTEC-20-09-COVID-19 Treatment Military Infectious Disease Research Program (MIDRP). The company announced that as a facilitation for the program, it will receive $5.1 million from MTEC. On its part, Aerpio stated that it would support the program with $2.8 million.
MicroVision Inc [NASDAQ:MVIS]
MicroVision is another top performer this morning and is up by over 16% in pre-market trading. The stock’s rally follows news that the company could be up for a buyout. According to the Motley Fool, CEO Sumit Sharma stated that they were considering offers from major companies in the auto and augmented reality industry. While the CEO did not offer details on the amount being offered, analysts project that it could be close to the company’s present market cap. This seems to have excited the market if the stock’s pre-market price action is anything to go by.
Acorda Therapeutics Inc [NASDAQ:ACOR]
Acorda is another top performer pre-market and is currently up by 26%. The rally follows the release of Q2 results that beat analysts’ expectations. The analyst consensus was an EPS loss of 0.46, while the company reported an EPS loss of $0.35. The company’s EPS loss also represented an improvement compared to the last financial year when its loss per share was $0.55. The company attributed this improvement to a 7% increase in net sales, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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