Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Shutterstock — Shares of the stock image, video and music provider jumped 9% after Shutterstock announced a six-year, expanded partnership with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
Newell Brands — Shares of the consumer goods company jumped more 11% after Canaccord initiated its coverage with a buy rating. The Wall Street firm said better days are ahead with new management at the helm, and it also expects modest top-line growth, improving profitability and cash flows, plus reduced leverage at the company.
Zillow — Zillow popped 9.1% after Piper Sandler upgraded the real estate stock to an overweight rating, saying new initiatives and improvement in the housing market could help boost shares more than 30%.
Salesforce — Shares gained nearly 4% after the software company announced it would hike prices across its cloud-based offerings starting in August.
WD-40 — WD-40 shares popped more than 18% on strong fiscal third-quarter results. The company said total net sales rose 15% from a year ago and issued better-than-expected guidance.
3M — 3M added 4.9% on the back of an upgrade to hold from underperform by Bank of America. The firm said litigation settlements, restructuring and the planned spinoff for the health-care business could all help the stock going forward.
Amazon — The stock added about 1.3% as the e-commerce giant kicked off its two-day Prime Day summer sale. Wells Fargo also named Amazon a top pick, citing better expectations for Amazon Web Services, Prime Day revenue growth and a positive risk/reward heading into earnings.
JetBlue Airways — The airline stock lost 2.6% after Evercore ISI downgraded shares to underweight, citing valuation concerns and recent negative catalysts, including a ruling to end its alliance with American Airlines in the Northeast.
Xpeng — U.S.-listed shares of Xpeng rose 5.8% after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the Chinese electric-vehicle company with a buy rating, citing a “compelling” model that fosters revenue and margin expansion. Goldman also expects Xpeng to benefit from ongoing declines in battery prices.
JPMorgan Chase — The bank stock gained 1.5% after Jefferies upgraded shares to a buy from a hold rating, citing a stable earnings outlook and “best-in-class” return on equity potential.
Novo Nordisk — Novo Nordisk, which makes weight-loss drug Wegovy, lost 3% after a study conducted by a pharmacy benefits manager for Reuters showed most patients stop using weight-loss drugs within a year.
Scotts Miracle-Gro — Scotts Miracle-Gro shares gained 10.7% after Truist upgraded the stock to buy from hold. The bank said the maker of consumer lawn and garden products is set to return to counter-season outperformance, with lower debt risk.
Generac — Generac shares rallied 4.5% as Argus Research upgraded the generator maker to a buy rating, citing recent cost-cutting initiatives and better growth than expected within the company’s commercial and industrial segment.
U.S. Bancorp — Shares gained more than 3% after Bank of America upgraded them to buy from neutral, saying earnings and strong execution should foster outperformance.
Iovance Biotherapeutics — Shares sank nearly 10% after the biotechnology company announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of $150 million in common stock.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Michelle Fox, Sarah Min and Yun Li contributed reporting.
Source: Finance - cnbc.com
