Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
General Electric — Shares of the industrial conglomerate slid more than 7% after Oppenheimer downgraded the stock to perform from outperform. The downgrade was triggered by valuation concerns and the Wall Street firm still believes the foundation was “solid” for the company. Shares have rallied more than 13% this year.
Roblox — Shares of the video game company rose more than 3% on its second day of trading after Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest purchased more than 500,000 shares of the stock for her Ark Next Generation Internet ETF on Wednesday. A vote of confidence from Wood has often moved single securities after the hot-handed investor returned 150% in her flagship fund in 2020. However, Ark’s ETFs have been under pressure in recent weeks.
Bumble – Shares of the dating app service spiked more than 10% following Bumble’s first quarterly update as a publicly traded company. Bumble reported revenue of $165.6 million, versus the expected $163.3 million. The company also gave an upbeat forecast for the current quarter.
Oracle – Oracle shares slid more than 6% after the computer software company delivered low earnings guidance for the current quarter. Oracle reported earnings per share of $1.16 on revenue of $10.09 billion for the third quarter. Analysts at Refinitiv expected earnings per share of $1.11 on revenue of $10.07 billion. Revenue in Oracle’s cloud division missed analysts’ expectations. The company increased its dividend by 33% and increased its share buyback program by $20 billion.
Nio – Shares of the China-based electric vehicle company jumped close to 7% after Mizuho initiated coverage on the stock with a buy rating. The firm slapped a $60 price target on the stock, which is 45% above where shares closed on Wednesday.
Boeing — Shares of Boeing popped about 3% to a 52-week high in midday trading after a report said the plane maker is close to finalizing a multibillion-dollar order for its 737 Max 7 jets from Southwest Airlines. A source told Reuters the deal could potentially top 100 firm orders plus significant options.
AMC Entertainment — Shares of the movie theater chain climbed nearly 3.7% after AMC reported better than expected revenue for its fourth quarter. The company generated $162.5 million in revenue, while analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected $142.3 million. The company’s chief financial officer said on an investor call that the company has more than $1 billion in cash on hand as of the end of February and is looking at ways to raise more capital, according to a FactSet transcript.
Tesla — Elon Musk’s electric car maker was up about 3.5%, enjoying a boost from a new buy rating from Mizuho and calmer interest rates that coaxed traders back into popular tech trades. Reuters also reported that Tesla has increased the prices of some of its car models, perhaps suggesting to some investors that the move could lift margins going forward.
Costco — Shares of the big box retailer popped about 1.8% after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight, arguing that some of the positive Covid impact the company received — like member growth — will remain even as the economy reopens. The Wall Street firm also hiked its 12-month price target on Costco to $370 per share from $340 per share.
Party City – The party supplies retailer saw its shares tumbling more than 11% after reporting an earnings miss. Party City reported quarterly earnings of 25 cents per share, missing forecasts by 6 cents, according to Refinitiv. Its same-store sales decline of 5.9% was also slightly larger than the Refinitiv consensus estimate of a 5.2% decline.
– CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald, Jesse Pound, Pippa Stevens, Tom Franck and Rich Mendez contributed reporting.
Source: Finance - cnbc.com
