(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks retreated on Thursday after a surprise decline in existing home sales which dented economic optimism.
Below we highlight few stocks that dominated the headlines on Thursday.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:
BBBY): Late on Wednesday, the company reported second-quarter profit climbed to $135.5 million, or 52 cents a share, from $119.3 million, or 46 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue rose to $1.92 billion from $1.85 billion. Analysts on average were looking for a profit of 47 cents a share on revenue of $1.91 billion. Comparable store sales dropped less than 1% while gross margin rose to 40.4% from 39.9%. The company said that it expects "relatively flat to slightly positive" consolidated same-store sales in the third and fourth quarters. The company executives said on a conference call that Wall Street estimates calling for a profit of 38 cents a share in the third quarter and $1.79 a share for the full year "appeared reasonable." Meanwhile, Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter downgraded the shares of the houseware retailer to "Neutral" from "Outperform," saying that the the stock is overvalued at current levels. "This stock is becoming expensive relative to Dick's Sporting Goods Inc., O'Reilly Automotive Inc., Lowe's Cos. and a few other names with similar or better longer term growth prospects," he wrote. Shares of the company lost over 4% on Thursday.
Vical Inc. (NASDAQ:
VICL): Shares rallied over 3% on Thursday after the biopharmaceutical company said that an animal trial of a peptide-based cancer vaccine formulated with the company's Vaxfectin adjuvant, an extra ingredient designed to boost the drug's power, proved effective."The Vaxfectin adjuvant continues to demonstrate tremendous versatility in both infectious disease and cancer applications," Alain P. Rolland, Vical's Executive Vice President of Product Development said in a statement. "The latest data showed that mice vaccinated with a Vaxfectin-formulated TRP-2 melanoma tumor antigen peptide achieved significant improvements in cellular immune responses, reduced numbers of tumors, and a survival advantage compared with mice receiving control or no treatment. These data encourage further development of additional cancer applications and exploration of partnering opportunities," he added. A low dose of the vaccine showed an 88-fold increase in a specific type of immune cell while a higher dose showed an 45-fold increase compared with a vaccine without Vaxfectin.
Cardinal Health (NYSE:
CAH) : Shares of Cardinal Health Inc.
