The markets were mostly higher today in a quiet day of trade. Since there was no meaningful news scheduled for today the Dow 30 only gained 23 (0.13%), the S&P 500 added 2 (0.13%), and the Nasdaq 100 was not able to remain positive, down 6 (-0.14%). Tomorrow traders will focus on crude oil inventories and the 10 year bond auction.
Zillow (Z ) shot up 5.74% today as the company announced that it has agreed to pay $130 million to settle a lawsuit with News Corporation's (NWSA ) Move Inc., the National Association of Realtors and three related entities. Move sued Zillow for trade secret theft and claimed $2 billion in damages after the company hired two former Move executives. The move today puts Zillow at new 2016 highs and just shy of 52 week highs.
The news just gets worse for Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX ) as the drug maker's Q1 profit missed estimates and it cut its 2016 profit forecast as new chief executive officer Joseph Papa attempts to turn around the struggling company. The company now estimates that earnings will be $6.60 to $7 per share, down from its original estimate of $8.50 to $9.50 under former CEO Michael Pearson. The company also lowered its revenue guidance to $9.9 billion to $10.1 billion from $11.0 billion to $11.2 billion. This disappointing news sent shares down another 14.52% today alone.
Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT ) shot up 22.55% today after news came out that the FDA has requested additional information from Sarepta for an ongoing study of its muscle-wasting treatment. This is part of its ongoing evaluation of the Eteplirsen New Drug Application (NDA).
Staying in the biotech space, Biogen (BIIB ) lost 12.76% today as the company announced that its Phase 2 clinical trial, SYNERGY, which treats relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, failed to meet primary and secondary objectives.