Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in
Friday's session are Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Idenix Pharmaceuticals
Inc. (IDIX) and Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (SPRD).
Oracle reported another disappointing quarter, as revenue growth
once again stalled in the latest period and the software company's
newer computer business continued to decline. The company managed
to post a 10% boost in net income for the fourth fiscal quarter
ended May 31, but adjusted earnings missed its expectations. Shares
were down 7.3% to $30.77 premarket.
Idenix said planned clinical trials for one of its experimental
hepatitis C drugs have been put on hold after regulators requested
additional safety data, dealing a blow to what analysts said is the
company's most promising compound. Shares slumped 33% to $3.45
premarket.
Spreadtrum received a roughly $1.31 billion nonbinding
acquisition offer from Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd., a state-owned
company funded by Tsinghua University in China. The wireless-chip
designer said Unigroup has offered to pay $28.50 per American
depositary share, a 28% premium to its Thursday close. Spreadtrum's
ADSs rose 23% to $27.51 premarket.
CarMax Inc.'s (KMX) fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 21% as
the number of used cars sold rose sharply. Results beat analysts'
expectations. CarMax is the biggest used-vehicle seller in the U.S.
Shares rose 8.8% to $48.47 premarket.
PharMerica Corp. (PMC) said in a regulatory filing that it has
been informed by Kindred Healthcare Inc. (KND) that it isn't
renewing PharMerica's contract for skilled nursing pharmacy
services when the current contract expires Dec. 31. Pharmercia
provides hospital pharmacy management services to Kindred's
hospitals under a separate contract that continues though 2014.
PharMerica shares fell 5.1% to $15.00 premarket.
Ashford Hospitality Trust's (AHT) offering of 11 million shares
priced at a 3.5% discount to the lodging-industry real-estate
investment trust's closing price. Shares were down 4.8% to $11.84
premarket, below the offering's $12 a share price.
Watchlist:
American Express Co. (AXP) named McKesson Corp.'s (MCK) chief
financial officer, Jeffrey C. Campbell, as its new finance chief,
succeeding Daniel Henry, who last month announced plans to
retire.
Agricultural giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) confirmed it
is in discussions about the potential sale of its cocoa business, a
unit that represents a small part of its revenue.
Five Below Inc. (FIVE) and Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners
L.P. (BEP) both postponed stock offerings due to current capital
market conditions.
Home Loan Servicing Solutions Ltd. (HLSS) said its upsized
offering of 13 million shares priced at $23 a share, a 2.2%
discount to its Thursday closing price.
Moody's Investors Service upgraded Lions Gate Entertainment
Inc.'s credit rating by one notch, citing increased financial
flexibility and significant free cash flow. Moody's lifted the
corporate-family rating for the parent of Lions Gate Entertainment
Corp. (LGF) to Ba3.
Medtronic Inc.'s (MDT) board has approved a 7.7% increase in its
cash dividend and raised its stock repurchase authorization by 80
million shares, as the medical device maker looks to increase
shareholder value.
Tibco Software Inc.'s (TIBX) fiscal second-quarter earnings fell
67% as the cloud platform-provider reported declining licensing
revenue, weaker margins and higher operating costs.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services placed Walter Energy
Inc.'s (WLT, WLT.T) speculative-grade ratings on CreditWatch with
negative implications on the coal producer's announcement that it
won't proceed with a plan to refinance a portion of its debt.
Technology licensing company Wi-Lan Inc. (WILN, WIN.T) agreed to
a broad long-term renewal of a licensing agreement with Samsung
Electronics Co. (SSNHY, 005930.SE) for the Ottawa-based company's
patents for wireless products.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@dowjones.com
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