Arena Pharmaceuticals Soars On FDA’s Approval (ARNA, JWN, PLCM, NFLX, SIRI)

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) stock soared 75.96% to $6.44 in the morning hour after the company said lorcaserin received positive vote from the US Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee. Lorcaserin is an investigational drug candidate intended for weight management. The FDA Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 18 to 4, with one abstention, that the available data demonstrate that the potential benefits of lorcaserin outweigh the potential risks when used long-term in a population of overweight and obese individuals.

Nordstrom, Inc.(NYSE:JWN) shares fell 2.96% to $51.94 in the early hour trading after the company’s first quarter profit rises but misses estimate. The company posted first quarter net income of $149 million or $0.70 per share, as compared to $145 million or $0.65 per share for the year-ago quarter. Total revenue increased to $2.63 billion, from $2.32 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected the company to earn $0.75 per share on revenue estimate of $2.52 billion for the first quarter.

Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM) shares climbed 3.58% to $12.44 in the morning hour after the company announced a definitive agreement to divest its enterprise wireless voice solutions business to an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. for gross proceeds of approximately $110 million in cash. The sale is expected to close within the third quarter of 2012. Polycom’s Board of Directors has approved an increase in its current share repurchase authorization to include net proceeds of approximately $104 million from this transaction.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) stock gained 2% to $73.87 in the early hour. On May 9, 2012, Netflix and Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, announced a multi-year licensing agreement that will soon make a host of great TV series and films available for Netflix members to instantly watch in Latin America and Brazil.

Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) stock fell 0.69% to $2.16 in the morning hour. Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ:LMCA) disclosed in SEC filings made public on May 9, 2012 that they have acquired 60.35 million shares of Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) via open market. According to the SEC filing, Liberty Media purchased the 60,350,000 shares of Sirius XM stock for a weighted average price of $2.126.
On May 1, 2012, the company had reported a first quarter profit of $107.7 million, or $0.02 a share, up from $78.2 million, or $0.01 a share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 11% to $804.7 million. Analysts had most recently forecast earnings of $0.02 a share on revenue of $804 million.