Today's stocks to watch in the news include Smith & Wesson Holding Corp (SWHC), Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc (PRTK), and Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (LL)
Dow futures are
signaling a rocky start this morning, as U.S. stocks search for direction ahead of next week's "Brexit" vote. Among the equities in focus today are gun manufacturer
Smith & Wesson Holding Corp (NASDAQ:SWHC), drugmaker
Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PRTK), and flooring specialist
Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL).
- SWHC is set for a big day, up 11% in pre-market trading, after the company reported much stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and offered up bullish guidance. Assuming these gains materialize, this would mark the seventh straight post-earnings win for the stock, which has added 35% in the past 12 months to trade at $21.75. A round of bullish analyst attention could come Smith & Wesson Holding Corp's way now, since just three of nine covering analysts recommend buying the stock. In fact, Cowen and Craig-Hallum just upped their ratings to the equivalent of a "buy," and boosted their price targets to $28.
- News that PRTK's antibiotic omadacycline hit all of its goals in a late-stage study has the stock almost 17% higher in pre-market trading. What's more, Leerink, Baird, and HC Wainwright all raised their price targets. The pending upside move would put the shares just above $19, an areas where they struggled at the start of the year. More recently, Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc has been making a comeback, gaining almost 21% since the start of May to trade at $16.44. Shifting to sentiment, the more than 30% surge in short interest over the two most recent reporting periods stands out, and these bears will likely be licking their wounds today.
- LL is also on the rise, after the company announced it would no longer sell Chinese-made laminate flooring. The move -- which has LL nearly 9% higher in electronic trading -- comes in response to the flooring controversy that has plagued the stock for more than a year. In fact, Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc was trading near $70 before the news broke in February 2015, and closed last night at $13.23. Today's potential price action is likely good news for short-term options traders, as LL's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) comes in at 0.51 -- in the 5th percentile of its annual range.
Sign up now for Schaeffer's Opening View newsletter to get a head start on all the major pre-market news!