Take a look at some of Thursday's midday movers:
Intercept Pharmaceuticals soared after it said one of its liver disease drugs showed positive results in a mid-stage trial.
Family Dollar Stores fell after the discount retailer reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit and gave a tepid outlook for its current quarter.
United Continental Holdings was flying high after it said passenger revenue per available seat mile increased strongly in December. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines Group and Southwest Airlines also rose.
Alcoa moved lower ahead of its earnings after the bell, when it agreed to pay $384 million to settle charges by the SEC and Department of Justice of bribing foreign government officials.
Ford Motor moved higher after increasing its quarterly dividend 25 percent to 12.5 cents a share.
International Business Machines fell after announcing it's investing over $1 billion to give its Watson cloud computing system its own business division in New York City.
McKesson moved higher after the U.S. drugs wholesaler raised its offer for German peer Celesio after activist hedge fund Elliott said its original offer was too low.
Exxon Mobil lost ground after Citi downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. It did, however, increase its price target to $108 from $99.
Sangamo BioSciences rose after Biogen Idec agreed to pay up to $320 million to develop its medicines for blood disorders.
BlackRock fell after it agreed to end analyst surveys.
Alcatel-Lucent lost ground Deutsche Bank downgrade the stock to hold from buy, saying its margin momentum could slow.
YRC Worldwide moved lower ahead of final vote count on a Teamsters contract extension.
Medtronic fell on news its experimental device for treating hypertension was not effective in a clinical trial.
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—By CNBC's Rich Fisherman.
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