Buzz Stocks: Eleven Biotherapeutics Inc, Juno Therapeutics Inc, and Mitel Networks Corporation

Today's stocks to watch in the news include Eleven Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:EBIO), Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), and Mitel Networks Corporation (NASDAQ:MITL)

Jul 8, 2016 at 10:34 AM

U.S. stocks are up after a promising payrolls report revealed higher-than-anticipated June jobs growth. Among equities in focus are biotechs Eleven Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:EBIO) and Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), as well as software stock Mitel Networks Corporation (NASDAQ:MITL).

EBIO is up 40.3% at $2.75, after the biotech announced it is entitled to a $22.5 million milestone payment, following news that its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for EBI-031 was accepted. EBIO sold its exclusive marketing rights for the drug to Swiss drug giant Roche Holding Ltd., and is eligible to receive up to $262.5 million in milestone payment throughout the development and commercialization of the drug. EBIO is up 1,000% since hitting its all-time low of $0.25 in mid-February, and has closed its mid-January bear gap. Even before today, Eleven Biotherapeutics Inc had outperformed the greater S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 480 percentage points over the last 60 sessions, though some short sellers remain skeptical, with EBIO's short interest up 10.1% over the last reporting period, to now account for 26.1% of the stock's float.

JUNO is down 27.4% at $29.65, after reports that at least two patients died during a study of its adult leukemia treatment. As such, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put the trial of JUNO's closely watched JCAR015 treatment on hold. This comes as a blow to the biotech, which had been in recovery mode since hitting its all-time low of $22.73 in February. JUNO is now down nearly 40% year-to-date, trading in territory not charted since February. Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded JUNO to "neutral" from "overweight," and slashed its price target to $39 from $63. No fewer than five other brokerage firms also cut their targets. Seven of nine analysts rate Juno Therapeutics Inc a "buy" or better, without a single "sell" to be found, leaving the biotech vulnerable to more analyst backlash.

MITL is up 18.4% at $7.13, on news of its terminated M&A agreement with Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PCLM), which accepted an alternative offer of $2 billion from Siris Capital Group. MITL had originally plunged after news of its merger with PCLM hit the Street in April, and the shares touched a two-year low of $5.81 just yesterday. MITL is still down 7% year-to-date, but the shares are approaching their 200-day moving average for the first time since April. A short squeeze could be fueling MITL's advance; short interest accounts for 10.5 million shares of the stock's float -- an amount that would take 12 days of trading to cover, at MITL's average daily volume.

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