Morning Buzz: J. C. Penney (JCP), Onconova Therapeutics (ONTX), Tesla Motors (TSLA), Goldman Sachs (GS), xG Technology (XGTI)

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) shares are up $0.34 to $8.41 in pre-market trading Friday after the company reported its second quarter earnings results.

The department store chain posted earnings of ($0.41) per share on revenues of $2.88 billion, up 2.7% from a year ago. Analysts were expecting EPS of ($0.50) on revenues of $2.86 billion. In the same period of the previous year, the Plano, Texas-based company posted a lost of ($0.56) on revenue of $2.80 billion.

“Although we have significant work to do as a company to regain our status as a world-class retailer, I am pleased with the resilience and the efforts of our associates,” said in a statement Marvin Ellison, CEO of J.C. Penney. “I also remain confident in our ability to achieve the long-term financial targets we have laid out.”

Looking ahead, J.C. Penney expects its FY2015 comparable store sales to increase 4% to 5%. Capex is expected to be between $250 to $300 million.

JCP has increased 25% since the beginning of the year, while declining 14% in the last 52-weeks.
—
Shares of Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. (ONTX) spiked up by more than 54 percent on Friday after the company announced the submission of an investigational new drug [IND] application to the FDA for IV rigosertib as a treatment for higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes [HR-MDS]. Upon clearance, the IND enables Onconova to initiate a randomized, controlled pivotal Phase 3 trial in patients with HR-MDS.

“We are pleased to achieve this important milestone, which positions rigosertib back on an approval track in HR-MDS,” stated Ramesh Kumar, Ph.D., President and CEO of Onconova. “We plan to submit Clinical Trial Applications (CTAs) in several European countries shortly. Onconova anticipates initiating enrollment in the new Phase 3 study in the second half of 2015.”
—
Shares of Tesla Motors (TSLA) are up by more than 2% to $247.54 in early morning trading after the automaker’s secondary offering of 2.7 million common shares was priced at $242 per share, a slight discount to Thursday’s close of $242.51. According to a SEC filing, the offering, which represents an increase from the 2.1 million shares/$500 million Tesla had previously announced, is expected to generate about $643 million in proceeds after expenses.
—
Goldman Sachs (GS) — The Wall Street firm is buying General Electric’s (GE) Capital Bank for $16 billion. Goldman is assuming about $8 billion in deposit accounts and $8 billion in COD bought through brokerages.
—
Shares of xG Technology, Inc. (XGTI) are lower by 48.15% to $1.12 in early trading on Friday after the company announced today the pricing of a public offering of 2.55 million Class A units at $1.00 per unit.

xG said it intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes.

• Become A Funded Futures Trader