Friday's Top Movers: 3 Stocks to Watch

Stocks opened higher on Friday morning amid continued trade tensions and major merger news, including reports that former Qualcomm QCOM chief Paul Jacobs is working on taking the company private after Broadcom’s AVGO failed takeover, while the European Union is expected to release a full list of U.S. products it will target in retaliation for President Trump’s new steel and aluminum tariffs.

Despite these potential headwinds, Friday saw a number of stocks flying high in early trading hours, spurred by positive earnings announcements and other company-related news. Here’s a shortlist of today’s top movers to keep an eye on as the trading week wraps up:

1. Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA)

Shares of Ulta surged nearly 7% in early morning trading after the beauty retailer posted its latest quarterly results on Thursday afternoon. The company actually missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings for the first time in more than four years, but investors were nonetheless impressed by the retailer’s growth.

Ulta’s adjusted earnings per share of $2.75 marked a 22.8% year-over-year improvement, while total quarterly revenues of $1.94 billion were up about 15.7%. Meanwhile, the company reported full-year comparable-store sales growth of 11%, which puts it among the best comps performers in the retail sector.

Looking ahead to its upcoming first quarter, Ulta expects to post revenues between $1.51 billion and $1.52 billion—a projection that was in line with our consensus estimates heading into the report (also read: Ulta Misses Q4 Earnings Estimates, Comps Up 11% For Full Year).

 

2. Eastman Kodak Company KODK

Shares of Eastman Kodak have struggled over the past two months as volatility in the cryptocurrency market reduced enthusiasm for the company’s plans to add blockchain to its business model. But the stock gained more than 13% in early trading Friday after Kodak posted encouraging earnings results.

For the fourth quarter, Kodak witnessed total revenues of $414 million and adjusted earnings per share of 61 cents. The company said that it expects fiscal 2018 revenues of $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion, compared to 2017’s total of $1.53 billion. Management also updated investors on cost-cutting initiatives, with two-thirds of planned job cuts already implemented.

 

3. Zosano Pharma Corp. ZSAN

Biopharma upstart Zosano skyrocketed as much as 20% after the company reached a major milestone in its long-term safety study. Zosano focuses on developing transdermal micro needle patch systems to deliver formulations of existing drugs through the skin for the treatment of a variety of indications.

Today, Zosano said that it reach 100 enrolled patients in its long-term safety study for the acute treatment of migraine. The treatment, M207, is the company’s lead development candidate.

 

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QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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