Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) were tanking Friday afternoon, down more than 15%, after the company's lung cancer treatment Opdivo failed in clinical trials. It was the first time the drug has failed a trial since it was first launched in 2014.
Opdivo, which costs nearly $13,000 a month per patient, had been approved to treat melanoma in 2014 and regulators have incrementally expanded its use to treat patients whose lung cancer had worsened after trying chemotherapy, as well as patients with kidney cancer and a certain type of lymphoma.
SunTrust downgraded the company's stock to Neutral from Buy while also cutting its price target to $68 from $86.
Conversely, rival drug maker Merck (MRK) benefited from the Bristol-Myers misstep, with the stock climbing 8% Friday. Leerink analyst Seamus Fernandez commented that Merck is now in the lead position for the next 12 to 18 months.
"As we see it, MRK will now dominate 1st line lung for at least the next 12 months in patients with 50%+ PDL1 expression. We'd expect MRK to gain significant traction in the overall market." Fernandez wrote.
Meanwhile, shares of FireEye (FEYE) were falling more than 10% Friday following the release of the cyber-security company's latest earnings report. The company reported revenue of $175 million vs. Wall Street's expectations of $181.7 million. FireEye did top EPS expectations, posting a loss of $0.33 per share vs. consensus estimates for a $0.39 loss.
However, guidance for the full year for a loss between $1.28 and $1.32 per share on revenue between $716 million and $728 million was short of Wall Street consensus expectations for a $1.24 loss on revenue of $793.7 million.
Finally, shares of fast-food restaurant Wingstop (WING) were rising nearly 15% following its earnings release today. The company reported that same-store sales helped boost its bottom line, despite rising commodity costs.
"The cost of chicken wings is up 8% this quarter as compared to where it was a year ago. But our model is built so we can sustain some of the challenges of higher commodity costs as it relates to chicken wings," CEO Charlie Morrison said on CNBC today.
By: Tony Owusu (The Street).
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Photo 2: Pharma File.
Photo 3: Mercury News.
Photo 4: The Daily Meal.
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