CombinatoRx, Hercules Offshore: Early Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Several stocks trading near $5 were poised to move on above-average volume during Tuesday's session.

CombinatoRx (CRXX) surged by 49 cents, or 44.1%, to $1.60 in the premarket session after the company said the Food and Drug Administration approved its Exalgo extended-release tables for the management of pain in opioid tolerant patients requiring continuous, around-the-clock opioid analgesia for an extended period of time. CombinatoRx will receive a $40 million milestone payment from Covidien (COV) based on Exalgo approval. In addition, following the FDA approval of Exalgo, approximately 38.6 million additional shares of CombinatoRx common stock are outstanding, pushing the total share count to approximately 88.6 million. The 50-day average daily volume for is 1.71 million, according to the Nasdaq.

Hercules Offshore (HERO) will likely trade on increased volume after the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of 23 cents a share, which was better than the loss of 27 cents a share that analysts had expected. Revenue dropped 43.7% froma year ago to $176.4 million, although that was also better than the Thomson Reuters average estimate. The 50-day average daily volume for Hercules Offshore is 2.63 million. On Monday, Hercules Offshore shares jumped more than 9% to close at $4.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals (QCOR) was set to rally Tuesday after the company reported a fourth-quarter profit of 13 cents a share, above the two-analyst average estimate for earnings of 9 cents a share. Revenue of $25.9 million was down 4.1% from a year ago but was also better than anticipated. The 50-day average daily volume for Questcor is 648,000.

LTX-Credence (LTXC) was poised to trade lower after the automated test equipment company announced a proposed public offering of 14 million shares of common stock. The 50-day average daily volume for LTX-Credence is 1.14 million. The stock closed Monday at $3.08 and was down nearly 6% in late trading.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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