Stocks to Watch: Inhibitex, Alcoa

01/09/12 - 08:13 AM EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) plans to acquire Inhibitex(INHX) for $2.5 billion.
Bristol-Myers' all-cash tender offer values Inhibitex at $26 a share, or more than two-and-a-half times the company's closing stock price on Friday of $9.87.
For all that cash, Bristol-Myers gains control of Inhibitex's INX-189, a pill in phase II studies which has the potential to become a component in the first all-oral therapies against hepatitis C.
Bristol-Myers shares were gaining 1.6% to $34.76, while Inhibitex shares were soaring 150% to $24.65 in premarket trading on Monday.

Pre-opening bell market reaction to this information has sent INHIBITEX stocks ( INHX ) soaring 124%

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Achillion(ACHN), in other hepatitis C drug news, said preliminary results for its ACH-1625 treatment for genotype 1 treatment-naive hepatitis C showed complete early virologic response after 12 weeks.
The shares were climbing 15% to $9.08 in premarket trading.

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Alcoa(AA) posts results after the closing bell Monday, marking the unofficial start to the earnings season.
The aluminum maker last week said its global smelting capacity will be reduced by 12% after the closure of certain plants. Alcoa said it would record fourth-quarter restructuring charges of $155 million to $165 million.
Analysts' expectations on Alcoa's results vary from a loss of 5 cents a share to a profit of 1 cent.
Shares were up 0.9% to $9.24 in premarket trading.

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Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) is close to buying Summit Entertainment, the maker of the Twilight series of vampire movies.
Lions Gate plans to spend $400 million in cash and stock on the movie studio, according to a report by The Associated Press that cited two anonymous sources familiar with the deal.

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Netflix(NFLX), which advanced 25% in the first week of trading in 2012, will launch its streaming video service in the U.K. and Ireland on Monday.
The video-streaming service will offer a one-month free trial in order to compete in a market currently dominated by Amazon's(AMZN) Lovefilm and British Sky Broadcasting Group. Netflix has already said it will lose money in 2012 because of the expansion across the Atlantic.
In response to Netflix's plans to offer unlimited video content for 5.99 pounds a month, Lovefilm announced Monday plans to offer unlimited streaming service for an introductory price of 4.99 pounds a month.
Netflix shares were rising 4.3% to $90 in premarket trades.

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Motorola Mobility(MMI) said Friday after the close of trading that it sees fourth-quarter revenue of about $3.4 billion, unchanged from revenue in the same period last year and less than the $3.88 billion analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected.
The company, in the process of being acquired by Google(GOOG), said the cost of patent lawsuits and a more competitive market weighed on results. Motorola will issue its full financial report on Jan. 26.
The shares were falling 2.3% to $37.58 in premarket trading.

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Teck Resources(TCK) announced a deal to buy Canada's SilverBirch Energy for C$8.50 a share and 1 share of the new company, SilverWillow Energy.
SilverBirch shareholders voted to approve the deal, with 39% in favor. With Tech's 9.4% ownership of SilverBirch, the proposal was accepted.

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Ford's(F) sales in China rose 7% in 2011, while sales for General Motors (GM) during the year in China increased 8.3%.
Shares of Ford were up 0.5%.

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Schnitzer Steel (SCHN) is expected by analysts to post fiscal first-quarter earnings of 23 cents a share on Monday.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel and Kaitlyn Kiernan