Juniper [JNPR] - Last Close: $30.22
Rumors of a possible acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise [HPE] have triggered a big rally in shares of this mid-cap IT stock.
Hewlett Packard is reportedly nearing a $13 billion deal to acquire the company, and a deal could be announced as early as this week.
As of this time, neither company has responded to requests for comment.
JNPR is the top mover in the S&P 500 with a 23.6% gain on nearly 1 million shares traded in the premarket.
My Take: “Buy the rumor, sell the news” strikes again. Unfortunately, this bump may have taken some upside off the table for traders hoping to make a play on the official merger announcement.
Match Group [MTCH] - Last Close: $37.89
The online dating giant is charging higher after the Wall Street Journal reported Elliott Management has taken a $1 billion stake in the company.
According to the exclusive report, Elliott intends to work with Match to find ways to turnaround the company’s performance.
News of the activist hedge fund’s interest in the company rallied shares to a 13.7% gain with nearly 400K shares traded thus far.
My Take: MTCH has been trending higher since its last downturn bottomed out in early November. Today’s rally could help it break through resistance at the $45 mark.
Seres Therapeutics [MCRB] - Last Close: $1.56
An early-morning clinical update is boosting this tiny biotech to big gains.
Seres announced the FDA had granted a fast-track designation for SER-155, and provided new details on its recent commercial launch of VOWST™.
The company also said it plans to release data from the second cohort of the SER-155 Phase 1b trial sometime in the third quarter.
Seres also announced it will give a presentation tomorrow at the 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.
MCRB is a top mover with a 37.1% gain on 8.5 million shares traded in the premarket.
My Take: MCRB is beginning to show signs of life after a trading sideways for several months. Tomorrow’s conference presentation could provide another catalyst for the stock, and its 17.28% short rate (as of Dec. 15th) could set up a short squeeze if the conditions are right.
Precision BioSciences [DTIL] - Last Close: $0.3980
This tiny biotech is breaking out after announcing a $17.5 million gene editing deal with TG Therapeutics [TGTX] early this morning.
Under the terms of the deal, TG Therapeutics receives an exclusive license to develop Azercabtagene Zapreleucel for autoimmune diseases, and other indications outside of cancer.
In exchange, Precision Bio gets a $17.5 million payment, plus potential milestones payments that could total as much as $288 million.
DTIL is one of this morning’s most active stocks, with nearly 8 million shares traded, and it’s up 16.1%.
My Take: DTIL has been very volatile over the past few months, but its trading range has narrowed as of late. Today’s rally could help it break out, but watch for resistance at the 55-cents mark.
