On the upside
Shares of Vivus (Nasdaq: VVUS) soared after the drug developer announced results that two late stage studies for Qnexa met key weight loss goals.
Syneron Medical offered $65 million in stock to acquire rival Candela Corp. (Nasdaq: CLZR) to combine two medical laser equipment makers.
An analyst upgraded eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) which recently spun off a majority stake of its Skype unit to private investors.
On the downside
K12 (NYSE: LRN) posted higher revenues that missed expectations. Shares of online education services provider fell.
AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV) posted a surprise 1st quarter loss. Analysts promptly downgraded the stock.
Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) reported higher earnings due to cost-cutting, but revenues fell slightly. Consumers keeping their existing cars were expected to spend more money repairing them, but analysts felt the company lagged competitors.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 4 points to 580.