Why Are These Five Stocks In Spotlight Today?

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) has seen its stock advance by more than 21% in today’s trading session, mainly because of a positive note in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s briefing documents for the biopharmaceutical company’s Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP) drug candidate, known as NUPLAZID (pimavanserin). ACADIA submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA for NUPLAZID for the treatment of psychosis associated with Parkinson’s disease in September 2015, with the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee being scheduled to hold an Advisory Committee meeting discussing on the risk-benefit profile of this product candidate on March 29 (tomorrow). Going back to the freshly-reveled briefing documents, the FDA stated that “Although the Division usually requires evidence of efficacy from more than one positive, adequate, and well-controlled trial, it is within our authority to rely on one robustly positive trial, especially when we have supportive evidence from the early part of the development program.” ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)’s drug candidate has the potential to be the first FDA-approved drug for the aforementioned condition. It should be noted that Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, trailing only the Alzheimer’s disease. As revealed by the National Parkinson Foundation, there are approximately one million individuals suffering from this disease in the United States and roughly four-to-six million people globally. What’s more, as Parkinson’s disease is mostly common among people aged 60 and above, the prevalence of this disease is anticipated to continue growing at a high pace along with the aging population in the years ahead. A total of 24 investment firms from our system had stakes in ACADIA at the end of December 2015, amassing 26% of its outstanding shares. Baker Bros. Advisors, managed by Julian and Felix Baker, owned 20.48 million shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) at the end of 2015.

Shares of GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) plummeted drastically on Thursday, after the video game retailer released its fourth-quarter earnings report, but the company recouped the pre-market loss during the trading session. The company generated total global sales of $3.53 billion during the fourth quarter that ended January 30, increasing by 1.4% (or 5.3% in constant currency) year-on-year. The increase was mainly driven by higher sales of non-physical gaming products, including digital, mobile and consumer electronics, and collectibles, which was offset by a decline in new software sales. GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME)’s fourth-quarter net earnings totaled $247.8 million, or $2.36 per share, up from $244.1 million, or $2.23 per share, reported for the same period of the prior year. More importantly, the company anticipates total sales to decline in the range of 4%-to-7% in the current quarter, while comparable sales are expected to drop in the range of 7.0% to 9.0%. GameStop expects diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.58 to $0.63 per share for the current quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had previously anticipated first-quarter sales to grow 1% year-on-year and expected earnings per share of $0.71. For the 2016 fiscal year, the company’s management anticipates diluted EPS in the range of $3.90-to-$4.05, while total sales are expected to grow in the range of 0%-to-3%. The hedge fund sentiment towards GameStop increased in the fourth quarter, as the number of funds with stakes in the company climbed to 36 from 31 quarter-on-quarter. Cliff Assness’ AQR Capital Management owns 2.42 million shares of GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) as of the end of the fourth quarter.

Disclosure: None