NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Shares of the following companies made notable moves ahead of Friday’s U.S. stock market:
Cepheid CPHD, +0.81% shares leapt nearly 26% after the diagnostics company late Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.
Columbus McKinnon Corp. CMCO, +0.19% shares climbed 9% after the maker of material-handling products reported a return to profitability in its third quarter.
Emulex Corp. ELX, +0.44% shares rose 15% after the storage-equipment maker late Thursday projected third-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s expectations.
First Solar Inc. FSLR, -0.46% shares gained more than 11% after Bloomberg reported industry executives from Suntech Power Holdings Co. STP, -50.00% and Trina Solar Ltd. TSL, +0.53% said China might double its installations of solar panels in 2012. Suntech shares rose 7.7% and Trina shares rallied 7.3%.
Newell Rubbermaid Inc. NWL, +0.99% shares advanced 8% after the consumer-products company reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
Solutia Inc. SOA, +4.81% shares jumped 41% after Eastman Chemical Co. EMN, -0.81% agreed to buy the specialty-chemical maker in a $3.38 billion cash-and-stock deal. Shares of Eastman Chemical rose almost 7%.
Cirrus Logic Inc. CRUS, +3.45% shares slid 8.3% a day after the supplier of parts for Apple products reported fiscal third-quarter results.
DeVry Inc. DV, +0.41% shares dropped 5.5% after the for-profit educator reported second-quarter adjusted earnings below average analysts’ estimates.
Green Dot Corp. GDOT, +0.13% shares slid 10.5% after the provider of prepaid debit cards late Thursday reported fourth-quarter revenue below expectations.
Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. INFI, +4.93% shares plunged almost 40% after the company halted a mid-stage trial of its potential treatment for pancreatic cancer after data showed patients lived longer taking a placebo.