Boston, MA 03/28/2014 (wallstreetpr) – CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) reported fourth quarter financial results and issued expectations which were widely popular with investors. Shares soared more than 13 percent by closing bell Thursday. The company said earnings in the fourth quarter improved significantly to 74 cents from 54 cents a year ago. However, EPS fell short of Wall Street view of 78 cents. On revenue, the company reported $361.10 million in the fourth quarter, better than the comparable quarter a year ago by more than 44 percent. However, even revenue missed expectation of $362.63 million for the quarter. But even as the company fell short of Street expectations on both earnings and revenue, reports that its credit portfolio was improving ended up making a lot of sense for investors. Also, the company made up for the seemingly weak financial results with upbeat projections for fiscal 2015 where it hopes earnings will come between $3.40 and $3.70, higher than $3.51 expected by Street. In any case, even revenue is expected to grow in the range of 5 – 10 percent, the CEO Theodore Wright said.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:INO) continues to bask in the glory of its recent high-profile awards in the industry. The company was rare winner of three top awards presented this week in Washington D.C. at the World Vaccine Congress, recognizing outstanding contributors towards the attainment of cancer vaccines and prevention solutions. On the wards, INO scooped Best Early Stage Vaccine Biotech award for its build a broad immunotherapy pipeline. The second award was Best Therapeutic Vaccine, recognizing its novel contribution in cervical cancer immunotherapy. And the third award was Best Licensing Deal which was a standup ovation for the company’s $400 million tie-up with Roche for the development of treatment solutions for hepatitis B, prostate cancer and immunotherapy based on DNA.
With FDA orphan drug designation for its acute myeloid leukemia or AML, investigational drug Pracinostat, MEI Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:MEIP) remains actively tracked by investors, and shares are enjoying the ride. According to the company CEO Daniel Gold, orphan drug status is the best thing to have come to the company in its effort to stand in the gap for the treatment of AML. The success of the drug is expected to boost MEIP’s revenue position due to the strong demand for AML treatment.
