NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gained in heavy premarket
trading Tuesday after the investment bank posted strong fourth-quarter earnings,
easily beating Wall Street expectations, despite recent turbulence in the
markets.
Shares added $3.95, nearly 2 percent, to $212.58 in early trading, from
their close at $208.63 Monday.
New York-based Goldman's results were powered by its investment banking and
financial advisory units.
Futures trading and the Nasdaq-100 Premarket Indicator showed the U.S.
markets poised to open higher, rebounding from two days of sharp declines.
Also rising premarket were shares of International Paper Co., following an
upgrade from Credit Suisse analyst Mark W. Connelly.
Connelly raised his rating on the Memphis, Tenn.-based IP to "Outperform,"
from "Sector Perform," noting that the company's restructuring efforts have been
slow to show results, "but management expresses high confidence."
"We think that restructuring benefits are still ahead of us, particularly in
white paper markets, where industry structure and behavior have improved
markedly in the last year," he said.
He kept a $39 price target, implying he expects the stock to rise 23 percent
in the next year from their $31.66 close Monday.
IP shares gained $1.09, or 3.4 percent, to $32.75 premarket.
Shares of solar energy companies resumed their climb after dipping in
Monday's session, as Lehman Brothers raised price targets on several names.
Citing expectations that polysilicon, a key component of solar wafers, will
continue to be in short supply, Lehman analyst Tim Luke raised his target on
MEMC Electronic Materials to $110, from $90, implying he expects the stock to
climb nearly 32 percent in the next year, from it's close at $83.42 Monday.
St. Peters, Mo.-based MEMC added $2.02, or 2.4 percent, to $85.44 premarket.
And shares of Epix Pharmaceuticals shot higher after the small biotech
released study results for a drug to treat Alzheimer's Disease that it called
"encouraging and compelling."
While the study was only two weeks long, investors didn't wait to bid up the
Lexington, Mass., company's stock, pushing it higher by $1.70, or 57.2 percent,
to $4.67 premarket, from its close at $2.97 Monday.
With few stocks on the downside, shares of Zymogenetics Inc. stood out,
giving up 55 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $13 premarket, from their close at
$13.55, even though the Seattle drug developer announced the start of a
mid-stage trial for a new drug to treat melanoma, after Banc of America
Securities analyst William Q. Sargent Jr. reduced his rating on the stock to
"Neutral" from "Buy," citing product delays.
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