McDonald’s french fries are being prepared.
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Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Rivian Automotive – Shares of Rivian Automotive plunged 19% after the electric vehicle maker announced plans to raise $1.5 billion in convertible notes and gave preliminary third-quarter revenue forecasts that were in line with expectations corresponded to Wall Street. Rivian expects revenue between $1.29 billion and $1.33 billion, while analysts surveyed by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, forecast $1.3 billion.
Exxon Mobil – Shares fell more than 2.3% in midday trading after oil prices fell further amid an uncertain demand outlook and macroeconomic future.
Clorox – Shares fell 7.7% on Thursday, a day after the product maker gave worse first-quarter forecasts than analysts polled by FactSet had expected. The company said a cyberattack had overshadowed the benefits of better pricing, cost reductions and supply chain improvements.
UWM Holdings – Shares rose 5.7% after the mortgage lender was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by BTIG. The company said UWM Holdings’ valuation does not reflect an upside to possible stabilization in interest rates.
Orchard Therapeutics – Shares nearly doubled after Japanese pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin announced plans to acquire the gene therapy-focused biotechnology company for $478 million.
Vestis – Shares fell 4.8% after Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on the unified company with a “buy” rating, noting limited valuation decline as “the stock’s risk-reward appears to be asymmetrical.” . Vestis completed a spinoff from Aramark on Monday.
Oculis – Shares rose 3.4% after Stifel initiated coverage on the biopharmaceutical company with a buy rating and a $35 price target. The investment bank cited Oculis’ pipeline of innovative technologies as the reason for the assessment.
First Citizens BancShares – Shares rose 1% after Wedbush initiated the regional bank with an outperform rating, citing two recent acquisitions as catalysts for a positive outlook.
Live Oak Bancshares – Live Oak Bancshares gained 4.2% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to overweight and maintained a price target that implies more than 40% upside potential over the next 12 months.
Carrier Global – Shares of the HVAC company fell 1.3% after Bank of America downgraded Carrier from Neutral to Underperform. The bank cited the declining demand for heat pumps in Europe as one reason for the negative assessment of the share.
Johnson & Johnson – Shares of the healthcare giant rose 0.8% in midday trading after RBC initiated coverage of the company with an outperform rating. Analyst Shagun Singh pointed to further potential yet to be realized with Johnson & Johnson’s spinoff of Kenvue in early 2023.
Constellation Brands – Shares of the alcoholic beverage maker fell more than 3% midday after Constellation reported that wine and spirits sales fell 14% year-over-year and exhaustion, an industry term for that figure, fell 8% be the boxes sold by a distributor to retailers. Overall, however, the company beat analysts’ earnings and revenue expectations and raised its forecast for fiscal 2024.
Lamb Weston – Lamb Weston shares rose 10%. On Thursday, the french fry maker that supplies McDonald’s beat analysts’ expectations for sales and profit in its latest quarter. In addition, the forecast for the financial year was raised. CEO Tom Werner cited solid demand and a favorable pricing environment for raising guidance for the fiscal year.
Instacart – Instacart fell 2.9% after Bernstein initiated coverage of the company with a market performance rating, noting that increasing competition challenged the delivery company’s strong digital advertising business.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans, Alex Harring, Tanaya Macheel, Sarah Min, Jesse Pound, Pia Singh, Samantha Subin and Michelle Fox Theobald contributed reporting.