The first half of 2020 was turbulent, but overall good for the Nasdaq stock market, and that momentum continued on the first day of July. the Nasdaq compound (NASDAQINDEX: ^ COMP) and the Nasdaq 100 It rose about 1%, outperforming much of the rest of the market.
Some renowned players on the stock exchange made important contributions to the advance. Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) celebrated a valuable legal victory, while Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) He made a strategic hiring and received praise from stock analysts. Let’s take a closer look at the news that moved the Nasdaq higher on Wednesday.
A great patent victory
Amgen’s shares rose 8% after the US biotech giant obtained a favorable ruling from an appeals court. Victory over Sandoz’s division of Novartis (NYSE: NVS) It could end the protracted dispute, although Novartis hopes the United States Supreme Court is willing to examine the case.
In August 2019, a federal district court confirmed Amgen’s patents that protect its best-selling anti-inflammatory Enbrel from biosimilar competition. The ruling prevented Novartis from launching a biosimilar version of the treatment, Erelzi, without first reaching a licensing agreement with Amgen. Novartis decided not to give up and instead appealed the decision.
Image source: Getty Images.
Today’s decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit confirmed the lower court’s decision. By a 2-1 decision, Amgen will now have protection for Enbrel until the end of 2028.
Interestingly, Novartis’ shares did not drop after the decision. The Supreme Court hears only a small fraction of the appeals it is invited to consider, making it more likely that if Novartis wants to move forward with Erelzi, then the biotech stock will have to come to some sort of agreement with Amgen to do so.
Tuning into Netflix
Netflix shares also rose sharply Wednesday, up 7%. The video streaming giant received some criticism from stock analysts today, perhaps in part due to the company’s decision to attract new talent to its executive team.
Netflix announced Tuesday night that it had named ex Apple Senior executive Bozoma Saint John will be its chief marketing officer. Recently, having worked at marketing agency Endeavor, Saint John has been responsible for high-profile marketing campaigns that Netflix hopes will help boost the video streaming company’s creativity and connection with viewers.
Stock analysts also like what they see on Netflix. One analyst raised his target price by $ 50 to $ 550 per share, while another included Netflix in his list of top investment ideas.
Netflix has benefited greatly from the increase in audience and subscriber interest during the coronavirus pandemic, which has encouraged many viewers to stay home. Despite the fact that competition continues to emerge in the video streaming space, shareholders have high hopes that Netflix has the advantage of being the first to stay ahead of the pack in the future.
