Apple and Qualcomm finally made peace, settling all the patent disputes after two years of bitter legal battles. The news came Tuesday around 3 pm ET, sending Qualcomm stock skyrocketing instantly. The stock finished the day more than 23% higher and gained another 12% Wednesday morning.
Four of the jumps were driven by mergers and acquisitions announcements, but the majority of the surges came after blowout earnings results. Biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals jumped more than 21 percent on July 19, 2017 after the drugmaker reported an improved response in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. Vertex said its three-drug cocktails boosted a measure of lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis by 9.6 percentage points or more, which crushed Wall Street expectations for the drug combination.