Mid-Day Market Update: Westell Drops Following Weak Q4 Earnings; Destination Maternity Shares Climb

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.55 percent to 24,751.11 while the NASDAQ declined 0.19 percent to 7,411.51. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.39 percent to 2,722.68.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Thursday, the industrials shares surged 0.26 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. BW, up 13 percent, and Hub Group, Inc. HUBG up 4 percent.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 1.05 percent.

Top Headline

McKesson Corporation MCK reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter.

The company posted adjusted earnings of $3.49 per share on revenue of $51.63 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $3.56 per share on revenue of $51.25 billion.

McKesson projects full-year earnings of $13 to $13.80 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. SBOT shares shot up 52 percent to $3.325 after the company disclosed that it achieved robust viral clearance for its manufacturing process.

Shares of Comstock Holding Companies, Inc. CHCI got a boost, shooting up 116 percent to $4.36. Comstock reported conversion of the majority of its unsecured, short-term debt into non-convertible preferred equity.

Destination Maternity Corporation DEST shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $3.343 after the board announced late Wednesday the election of four activist-backed director nominees. Three women and one man comprise the selected group championed by NGM Capital’s Nathan Miller and Kenosis Capital’s Peter O’Malley. Destination Maternity had advocated for another slate of three men and interim CEO Melissa Payner-Gregor. The new directors are Holly Alden, Marla Ryan, Anne-Charlotte Windal and Christopher Morgan.

Equities Trading DOWN

Recro Pharma, Inc. REPH shares dropped 52 percent to $5.950 after the company received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA. The FDA declined to approve the company’s New Drug Application for IV meloxicam.

Shares of Westmoreland Resource Partners, LP WMLP were down 30 percent to $2.77 after surging 194.03 percent on Wednesday.

Westell Technologies, Inc. WSTL was down, falling around 19 percent to $2.815 after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings miss.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.04 percent to $71.09 while gold traded up 1.22 percent to $1,310.60.

Silver traded up 1.58 percent Thursday to $16.665, while copper rose 0.21 to $3.077.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.35 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.22 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.94 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.80 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.32 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.57 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims increased 11,000 to 234,000 in the latest week. Economists expected claims to reach 219,000 last week.

Existing home sales declined 2.5 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million for April. However, economists were expecting a 5.56 million rate.

The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for May will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.