Buzz Stocks: Yahoo! Inc., Finish Line Inc, and Dynavax Technologies Corporation

Today's stocks to watch include Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), and Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX)

by Josh Selway

Published on Jan 7, 2016 at 9:27 AM

It's looking like another brutal day on Wall Street, as global markets slide following another halt in Chinese trading. Among the equities in focus are Internet giant Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), athletic retailer Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), and drugmaker Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX).

YHOO is set to open 3.5% lower this morning, with Business Insider reporting the company is planning to lay off 10% of its workforce. It's been a tumultuous time for the firm, with activist investor Starboard Value just yesterday declaring its disapproval of Yahoo! Inc.'s leadership. The stock closed Wednesday at $32.16, and could explore territory below $30 today for the first time since Oct. 2. YHOO may also face headwinds if downgrades come from the analyst community. Twenty of 29 covering brokerage firms say the stock is still at least a "buy," with no "sell" ratings on the books.

FINL is about to get whacked when the market opens, with shares of the footwear retailer pointed 13.8% lower in electronic trading. On top of disappointing quarterly figures, the company announced it would be closing up to 25% of its stores, and replacing current CEO Glenn Lyon with President Sam Sato. It's not too surprising Finish Line Inc is making major changes, since the shares have lost over one-quarter of their value compared to this time a year ago, last seen at $18.50. FINL, like YHOO, could fall victim to analyst downgrades, as half of the brokerage firms that track the stock call it a "strong buy."

Not every stock is set to get pounded today, as biotech DVAX has picked up almost 25% in pre-market action. This potential burst comes after the company reported encouraging top-line results for its investigational hepatitis B vaccine, HEPLISAV-B, in a Phase 3 study. This news likely has short sellers worried. Almost 11% of Dynavax Technologies Corporation's float is sold short, putting its short-interest ratio at 7.90. To put it simply, there's plenty of sideline cash to sustain a short-covering rally. You can't really blame anyone for being bearish on DVAX, though. The stock has trailed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 15 percentage points during the past two months, last seen at $21.18.

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