Thursday was a quiet day on Wall Street, with major benchmarks remaining close to the unchanged level. Sentiment among market participants remained relatively favorable in the aftermath of the release of the Trump administration's tax reform proposal, although a closer look at the broad framework for tax changes drew mixed responses from policymakers and lawmakers. Signs of strong economic activity helped rally certain parts of the market, and several individual stocks posted solid gains. BlackBerry (BB -3.14%), AbbVie (ABBV -0.30%), and bluebird bio (BLUE -1.13%) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
BlackBerry enjoys solid earnings
Shares of BlackBerry jumped more than 13% after the release of the company's fiscal second-quarter financial report. The smartphone pioneer said that it set a record for sales of software and services offerings, which shows the commitment that BlackBerry has had to move its business away from lower-margin device sales toward the better profitability that non-hardware segments offer. The company has seen early success with initiatives to capture a greater portion of the automotive market, and its enterprise business is also thriving. Best of all, BlackBerry managed to bring in a surprise profit, and the company hopes to keep that momentum going forward throughout the fiscal year.
BlackBerry has moved beyond only selling devices like this one. Image source: BlackBerry.
AbbVie settles patent dispute
AbbVie stock gained 5% in the wake of the pharmaceutical giant's resolution of a patent dispute with rival Amgen (AMGN -1.33%) in connection with AbbVie's blockbuster drug Humira. AbbVie said that under its agreement with Amgen, a non-exclusive license will give Amgen the right to use Humira-related intellectual property in the U.S. through January 2023. In exchange, Amgen agreed to acknowledge the validity of AbbVie's intellectual property rights in Humira. The resolution takes away considerable uncertainty surrounding Amgen's proposed biosimilar product, which could have jeopardized Humira's revenue going forward. AbbVie has worked hard to protect Humira, and today's agreement further cements the company's hold on the key treatment.
Bluebird Bio gets a good review
Finally, shares of Bluebird Bio climbed 10%. The biotech company got positive comments from analysts at Leerink, who reiterated an outperform rating on the stock. The analysts were optimistic about the prospects for multiple myeloma candidate treatment bb2121, on which Bluebird is working with partner Celgene (CELG) toward getting the blood cancer drug approved over the next few years. At the same time, other treatments like its anemia-fighting LentiGlobin could also produce opportunities for Bluebird going forward, justifying higher share prices in the future.
