| Activision Blizzard [ATVI] - Last Close: $90.07 Activision Blizzard is rallying on an update to its pending merger. News broke today that Microsoft [MSFT] has agreed to keep the Call of Duty franchise on Playstation following its acquisition of the game developer. Microsoft reportedly signed a deal with Playstation's manufacturer, Sony [SONY] to keep the offering on the console. The deal has a 10-year term and only applies to Call of Duty games. Investors hope the agreement will ease regulators' concerns regarding the Big Tech behomoth's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard. ATVI is leading the S&P 500 with a 4.0% gain, and its shares are trading with elevated volume. My Take: MSFT is pulling out all the stops to push through this acquisition after it was initially blocked by regulators. At this point, I expect the deal to go through, and ATVI could see more gains once the path is clear. argenx [ARGX] - Last Close: $379.08 A clinical update is boosting shares of argenx. Early this morning, the Dutch pharma firm reported positive topline data from an ADHERE study of VYVGART Hytrulo in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). The study met its primary endpoint while demonstrating a lower risk of relapse compared to placebo. Detailed data will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting. ARGX is up a whopping 26.2% on the drug update. My Take: Wow, this is a big move for a $21.11 billion pharma giant. ARGX could be onto something big here judging by the size of this move. The stock is on pace to notch a new 52-week high if it can hold on through the close. BridgeBio Pharma [BBIO] - Last Close: $18.22 Shares of BridgeBio are rocketing higher after a clinical update. This morning, the small-cap biotech firm said its experimental heart disease drug met its main goal in a late-stage study. BridgeBio said the drug, acoramidis, showed statistically significant improvement in reducing hospitalizations. Furthermore, no safety concerns were identified in patients. BridgeBio intends to submit marketing applications to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration before the end of 2023, with additional markets to follow in 2024. BBIO is one of the morning's top stocks with a 65.0% gain on active volume. My Take: BBIO has been trending higher since the beginning of the year, and this is more momentum in their favor. This tiny biotech is beginning to look like it has promise. Acumen Pharmaceuticals [ABOS] - Last Close: $6.28 Acumen Phama just made a big announcement. The company just announced a conference call to discuss positive topline results from a Phase 1 INTERCEPT-AD trial of its experimental Alzheimer's treatment. The call will highlight clinical data for Acumen's ACU193, which the company says is "the first clinical-stage AβO targeting antibody therapy" for early AD. Acumen said the conference call will begin at 8 a.m. this morning, with the firm's key researchers and executives in attendance. ABOS is up 49.3% in the premarket on elevated trading volume. My Take: Be careful buying with the hopes the 8 a.m. conference call will drive shares higher because it could in fact cause the opposite reaction, as many traders prefer to "sell the news." However, if ABOS gets this drug approved, all bets are off. It could go to the Moon. GainersNova Lifestyle [NVFY] >> +38.7%Comera Life Sciences [CMRA] >> +24.9%Healthcare Triangle [HCTI] >> +21.1%Aerwins Tech [AWIN] >> +26.2%DeclinersBYND Cannasoft [BCAN] >> (47.3%) ViewRay [VRAY] >> (44.4%)Apellis Pharma [APLS] >> (34.5%)Ebix [EBIX] >> (11.0%) Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. [GNTY] ... AM
Destiny Media Technologies, Inc. [DSNY] ... AM
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Crossfirst Bankshares, Inc. [CFB] ... PM
Home Bancorp, Inc. [HBCP] ... PM Empire State manufacturing survey [Jul] ... 8:30a | 