Mid-Afternoon Market Update: FormFactor Drops On Weak Forecast; ConforMIS Shares Gain

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.50 percent to 17,721.63 while the NASDAQ gained 0.51 percent to 4,871.23. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.47 percent to 2,064.71. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Wednesday, energy shares jumped by 1.06 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Isramco, Inc. ISRL, up 8 percent, and InterOil Corporation (USA) IOC, up 12 percent. In trading on Wednesday, healthcare shares rose by just 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Opko Health Inc. OPK, down 8 percent, and Athersys, Inc. ATHX, down 8 percent. Top Headline Lululemon Athletica inc. LULU reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday. Lululemon posted quarterly earnings of $0.85 per share on revenue of $704.3 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.80 per share on revenue of $693.4 million. Lululemon expects FY 2016 earnings of $2.05 to $2.15 per share, and revenue of $2.285 billion to $2.335 billion. Analysts projected earnings of $2.15 per share and revenue of $2.33 billion. Equities Trading UP Xtant Medical Holdings Inc XTNT shares shot up 15 percent to $2.81 after the company reported the FDA clearance of the Xspan laminoplasty fixation system. Shares of Argos Therapeutics Inc ARGS got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $7.82 on Q4 results. Argos Therapeutics reported a Q4 loss of $(0.84) per share on revenue of $74,000. ConforMIS Inc CFMS shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $10.42 after the company announced positive results from several clinical studies. ConforMIS stated the results from the studies will be fully presented at the 2016 British Association for Surgery of the Knee (BASK) Annual Meeting which takes places Wednesday through Thursday. Equities Trading DOWN ContraVir Pharmaceuticals Inc CTRV shares dropped 25 percent to $1.26 after the company reported a proposed stock and warrant offering to purchase stock. Shares of Verint Systems Inc. VRNT were down 11 percent to $31.48 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast. The company also reported a $150 million buyback program. FormFactor, Inc. FORM was down, falling around 8 percent to $7.28 after the company lowered its outlook for the first quarter. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 0.24 percent to $38.19, while gold traded down 0.74 percent to $1,228.30. Silver traded down 0.12 percent Wednesday to $15.22, while copper fell 1.04 percent to $2.19. Eurozone European shares closed higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.30 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.70 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 1.12 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 1.60 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 1.78 percent, while U.K. shares rose 1.59 percent. Economics The private sector added 200,000 jobs in March, according to ADP. However, economists were expecting a gain of 194,000 jobs. Crude oil supplies gained 2.3 million barrels for the week ended March 25, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting an increase of 2 million barrels. Gasoline supplies slipped 2.5 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined 1.1 million barrels last week.