Early Stocks in Motion

Genentech(DNA Quote) surged 15% ahead of the bell Friday after saying a preliminary analysis of a phase III trial suggests its Avastin wonder drug helps slow the progression of breast cancer. Avastin is already approved for colon cancer and recently performed well in a trial of lung-cancer patients. The stock was recently up $8.82 to $66.60.

General Electric(GE Quote) rose modestly in premarket trading after reporting a 25% surge in first quarter profits to $4 billion, or 38 cents a share, a penny ahead of estimates. Revenue jumped 19% to $39.8 billion, well above the consensus estimate of $37.9 billion. GE said full year earnings should be toward the high end of its previous guidance, which called for a profit of $1.76 to $1.83 a share.

Cree(CREE Quote) said it earned $20.7 million, or 27 cents a share, for the third quarter ended March 27, up from $15 million, or 20 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue for the quarter was $96.7 million. Analysts expected 26 cents a share on revenue of $95.5 million. The stock was up $1.56, or 6.86%, to $24.30 in after-hours trading.

Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN Quote) said a handful of funds plan to sell 4.1 million common shares through a secondary offering underwritten by Citigroup. The stock was down $1.30, or 7.12%, to $16.95 in after-hours trading.

TriQuint Semiconductor(TQNT Quote) announced that it will sell its optoelectronics operation in Pennsylvania and Mexico to CyOptics. TriQuint said the total consideration from the sale will generate $32 million and will result in a one-time gain of between $7 million and $8 million. The company expects the sale to close by the end of April. Shares of TriQuint were down 4 cents, or 1.3%, to $3.03 in after-hours trading.