Citigroup on Wenesday raised its price target on Buy-rated Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to $450 from $435 ahead of earnings on July 19th. In a research note to clients, the firm said that checks show that iPhone demand is surprisingly strong and they raised their estimates from 16 million units to 18 million, which is above the consensus of 16.5-17 million. The firm also sees iPad shipments of 8 million, which is above the consensus of 7.5 million.
Shares of JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) rallied more than 4% after the company announced that Mr. Min Cao will succeed Ms. Anthea Chung as JA Solar's chief financial officer. Ms. Chung is resigning from her position to pursue other opportunities. She will remain with the company through August 19, 2011, to assist with the transition, and will participate in the company's second quarter earnings conference call.
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) rallied more than 3% after the company said it was dropping its bid to acquire the 60.1% of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC that it doesn't already own, amid a political firestorm over alleged unethical reporting tactics at some of its British newspapers.
Sina Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) surged more than 7% after the company announced that it will launch a virtual currency for its popular Weibo microblogging service in the third quarter of this year, the firm's first real push to monetise the platform, a source with direct knowledge of the plan said on Wednesday. Analysts said the move is significant for Sina as it seeks to monetise Weibo and expand it into a full-fledged social network to compete with Renren Inc and Tencent Holding's QQZone. Sina, which launched Weibo about two years ago, has more than 140 million users.
Shares of Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASAQ: TSPT) sank more than 40% on Wednesday, a day after the specialty pharmaceutical company said it expects a second rejection letter from the U.S. health regulator regarding its sleep disorder drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had assigned an action date of July 14 for the drug, Intermezzo.
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