US futures point to a mixed start on Thursday, after the falls yesterday, with Dollar General Corp (NYSE:DG), a stock in focus ahead of the New York bell.
Shares surged 7.8% to US$96.15 each after the giant discount retailer revealed fourth quarter same-store sales beat expectations and it also gave an upbeat earnings outlook.
Net income for the quarter came in at US$712.2mln, up from US$414.2mln for the same period last year.
Meanwhile, shares in Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) added 6.37% to US$130.49 before the New York bell.
The firm announced positive results in a clinical trial of a treatment for Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), which is a chronic, progressive, and potentially life-threatening ultra-rare blood disorder.
Alexion's ALXN1210 shows non-inferiority to Soliris in head-to-head study in PNH https://t.co/dDfmqX0jLo $ALXN
— FirstWord Pharma (@fwpharma) 15 March 2018
Another big mover before the bell was Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PTI), whose shares rocketed over 23% before the bell to US$8.08 after it revealed that that the FDA has granted orphan drug designation for PTI-428 in cystic fibrosis.
The company also reported a smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.
On the losing front, Solid Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:SLDB) tanked over 57% to US$11.30 after the biotech group reported a clinical hold by the FDA on the SGT-001 Phase I/II clinical trial for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.