Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) stock still remains a buy, even as the shares have risen to a new record high of $130.74 on Thursday, propelled by upbeat Q4 financial results, Barron's said in an exclusive report. Barron's said the stock remains a deal since investors should look forward to "even better news" in the new fiscal year and because the strong Q4 results demonstrated that its "premium valuation is built on strong fundamentals." Costco's better-than-expected Q4 results marked a turning point, which "will begin the upward earnings revision cycle --always critical for retail stocks," according to Sterne Agee & Leach analyst Charles Grom, who kept a buy rating on the retailer, Barron's noted. The paper also said Costco's gross margin could rise further in FY2015 after improving four basis points to 10.7% in Q4. In late morning trade, Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) shares were up 1.2% at $130.30, with a new 52-week range of $109.50-$130.74. In other headline news, Impax Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IPXL) shares rose over 12% in recent trade after saying it has agreed to buy privately held pharmaceutical companies Tower Holdings and Lineage Therapeutics for a total of $700 million in cash. The acquisitions are expected to bring in revenues of $215 million to $225 million and EBITDA of $80 million to $85 million in 2014 and to be approximately $0.90 accretive to 2015 diluted EPS. Impax Laboratories Inc (IPXL) is trading in the upper half of the 52-week range between $19.39 and $31.04. The specialty pharmaceutical company anticipates completion of transaction within the next six months, pending approvals. Veritex Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:VBTX) said late on Wednesday that it priced its initial public offering of 2.7 million shares at $13 per share, at the midpoint of the expected range of $12 - $14 a share. The Dallas, Texas-based bank holding company said it granted underwriters a 30-day option to acquire up to 405,000 additional shares. Veritex Holdings Inc (VBTX)said it plans to use the net proceeds to support its continued growth and for general corporate purposes. Shares began trading on Thursday, October 9 on the Nasdaq under the ticker VBTX and were up 2.3% at $13.30 in recent morning trade.
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