Big Movers: BCRX, WU, JCP, VRSN, GNW

Following are the notable percentage movers at afternoon session on Wednesday’s session:-

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(NASDAQ:BCRX) shares slumped 29% after the company yesterday announced that the drug-maker withdrew its Investigational New Drug application for its antiviral nucleoside treatment for hepatitis C, BCX5191. The FDA has raised concerns related to the drug's preclinical toxicity profile at levels necessary for it to be effective.

The Western Union Company(NYSE:WU) is experiencing a sharp selloff in Wednesday’s session and hit a new low of $12.48, now down 28.44% to $12.83. The stock slumps after the company trimmed its earnings guidance for the full year on increased competition.

The company now projects to earn $1.65 to $1.68 a share, well below its previous guidance of $1.73 to $1.77 a share. The company said it was planning to cut costs and save $30 million annually by 2014.

The company posted net income of $269.5 million, or 45 cents a share on revenue of $1.42 billion. Analysts were estimating the company to earn 45 cents a share on revenue of $1.47 billion.

J.C. Penney Company, Inc.(NYSE:JCP) lost 5.66% as the company posts a 30% clearance offer on its website and texts the same deal to customers in a move that reverts back to its old promotional ways of clearing inventory. Though the pricing strategy doesn't cover regularly priced merchandise, it still feels like a bit of a reversal off of Ron Johnson's one-price model. At the very least, the retailer may be trying to squeeze out a little more juice for FQ3 numbers after seeing same-store sales plummet in FQ1 and FQ2.

Verisign, Inc.(NASDAQ:VRSN) slid 5.10% as worries mount about the Commerce and Justice departments' reviews of Verisign's offer for a 6-year renewal of its deal to run the registry for .com domain names. The company noted in last week's Q3 report that the Commerce department might not complete its review before the Nov. 30 expiration of Verisign's current deal, in which case a 6-month extension kicks in. Verisign's offer gives it the right to raise prices by 7% four times over the course of the deal.

Genworth Financial Inc(NYSE:GNW) shares soared 9% following earnings last night reflecting improvement in the housing market: U.S. mortgage insurance operations posted a $38M loss, a $41M improvement from last year, and against total company earnings of $34M. On the earnings call, management says it expects to IPO its Australian mortgage unit before the end of fiscal 2013.

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