Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in
Thursday's session are LipoScience Inc. (LPDX), Scholastic Corp.
(SCHL) and Boeing Co. (BA).
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (LH) said Thursday it will
acquire LipoScience for $85.3 million, in a bid to expand its
offering of personalized diagnostic tests. LipoScience's shares
jumped 63.6% to $5.22 in premarket trading. LabCorp shares were
inactive premarket.
Scholastic said its fiscal first-quarter loss widened as the
"Hunger Games" and "Harry Potter" publisher posted tepid revenue
growth and higher expenses. Shares were inactive premarket.
After a 20-month investigation, Japan's transportation safety
authority said in a report Thursday it couldn't identify the
precise cause of a battery malfunction that prompted an emergency
grounding of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Japan last year. Shares
dipped slightly to $128.53 premarket.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) is confronting a botched software update and
consumer complaints that its flagship phone can be bent out of
shape, just one week after launching its new iPhones. Shares fell
1.1% to $100.63 premarket.
Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. (MHR) reported the biggest initial
production yet out of any Utica shale well, sending shares up 11.9%
to $6.11 premarket.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (VRX, VRX.T) said
Jeffrey W. Ubben, the chief executive and founder of ValueAct
Capital Management LP, will join its board, just months after the
hedge fund resigned its seat to focus on its investment in
Microsoft Inc. (MSFT). Valeant's shares were up 2.4% to $127
premarket.
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA, CMCSK) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC)
fired back at critics of their proposed $45 billion merger,
accusing them of engaging in "extortion" to extract business
concessions and win their support for the deal.
Ford Motor Co. (F) is adding 1,200 workers to a plant near
Kansas City in Claycomo, Mo., for a second shift of production of
its commercial hauler, the Transit van. With the addition of the
workers, Ford said it would exceed its projection of adding 12,000
new jobs to plants in the U.S. by 2015.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK, GSK.LN) on Thursday named Philip
Hampton as its next chairman. Mr. Hampton is currently chairman of
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS, RBS.LN).
GameStop Corp. (GME) plans to hire about 25,000 seasonal workers
for the holiday season, an increase of 47% from last year.
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) said the Food and Drug Administration
approved Humira as a treatment for patients age six and older with
hard-to-treat cases of Crohn's Disease.
Watchlist:
Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL) swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss
as the contract electronics manufacturer was hurt by
restructuring-related expenses and other one-time items, as well as
weaker revenue and margins. But revenue beat expectations and the
company's fiscal first-quarter outlook was above analysts'
forecasts.
Tetra Tech Inc. (TTEK) said Wednesday it plans to shed half of
its remediation and construction segment, reducing the company's
revenue by as much as 10%, and focus on its better-performing
front-end segments. Tetra Tech, which provides consulting,
engineering and technical services, said it plans to exit all of
its noncore construction markets that require lump-sum fixed-price
bidding by the end of the year.
Medical-device company Orthofix International NV (OFIX), which
previously said it would restate results for 2011, 2012, 2013 and
the first quarter of 2014, said it will need more data concerning
inventory-reserve amounts for spine-fixation products held as
consignment inventory.
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) said that following a jury verdict
against it, a Maryland court entered a judgment that the company
breached its license with Mirowski Family Ventures LLC, and awarded
$308 million in damages.
Worthington Industries Inc. (WOR) said its fiscal first-quarter
earnings fell 19%, reflecting nonrecurring items in the year-ago
quarter, but revenue rose 25%.
Write to Tom Rojas at tom.rojas@wsj.com and Josh Beckerman at
josh.beckerman@wsj.com
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