Courtesy of Benzinga.
Gainers
- Five Prime Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: FPRX) traded up more than 2 percent immediately following after-hours news. However, the stock is now unchanged compared to Wednesday’s closing price. The company announced a Phase 1a/1b data abstract for its cabiralizumab was selected for a late-breaking oral presentation at SITC meeting.
- XL Group Ltd. (NYSE: XL) up 4.2 percent as the company offered a loss estimate related to the 2017 hurricane season: $1.33 billion. Total catastrophe losses for the third quarter are estimated at $1.48 billion.
Losers
- Protagonist Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: PTGX) down 12 percent on the heels of a common stock offering. An amount for the offering was not disclosed.
- NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: NSTG) down 9.8 percent after the company gave preliminary third-quarter guidance which was below the Wall Street consensus estimate. NanoString is expecting third-quarter sales in the $25.9-$26.9 million range, compares to the analyst consensus estimate of $27.7 million. NanoString also reduced its Q3 Product & Service sales guidance from $19.5-$21.5 million to around $16.9 million.
- Kandi Technologies Group Inc (NASDAQ: KNDI) down nearly 6 percent following an S-3 filing showing registration for a $300 million mixed securities shelf offering.
- J.Jill Inc (NYSE: JILL) down 34.5 percent following weak Q3 guidance: sees adjusted earnings $0.08-$0.10 per share vs the sell-side consensus estimate of $0.19.
- Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: HAWK) down 6.7 percent amid seemingly strong quarterly results, but guidance which missed the mark. The company reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.18 on sales of $208.3 million vs the $216.13 million analyst estimate. Blackhawk is expecting FY17 adjusted EPS $1.56-$1.70 vs the $1.68 estimate. Sales for the year are expected between $940 million and $981 million compared to the analyst consensus estimate of $1.11 billion.
- Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) down 2.5 percent amid reduced guidance: lowered sales outlook from $1.29-$1.35 billion to $1.25-$1.26 billion. Adjusted EPS guidance was reduced from $0.55-$0.61 to $0.54-$0.56.
- Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ: HMNY) down 3.5 percent following a five-day rally which has the stock up about 150 percent. Shares recently began moving higher following a Mashable report on October 5 which suggested Netflix could raise prices again. On Wednesday, Citron Research’s Andrew Left issued a short call on the stock, but despite this, the stock closed up 18 percent for the session.
After-hours price action occurs in an environment where fewer traders are participating in price discovery. Amid this lack of activity and liquidity in certain stocks, experienced traders will sometimes attempt to manipulate sentiment by placing an order at a price markedly different than a stock’s closing price or last price.
It’s conceivable less savvy investors could see this price action, assume the sharply higher or lower indication is a signal of news, buy or sell the stock, and ask questions later. This is one reason after-hours price action can sometimes evaporate by the next day’s morning trading session (i.e. there is no news — just trading activity).
Posted-In: Andrew Left Citron ResearchNews Short Sellers After-Hours Center Movers
