Check out the companies making headlines midday Friday:
Tesla — Shares of Tesla fell 7.58 percent after the company’s underwhelming announcement that it will be launching its standard Model 3. Barclays analyst Brian Johnson even called it the “un-iPhone moment.” The electric car maker also announced store closures and layoffs in an effort to reduce costs, in addition to stating that the company will not turn a profit during its first quarter.
Nektar Therapeutics — The biopharmaceutical fell 8 percent Friday after reporting fourth-quarter earnings. The drug maker lost 57 cents a share and reported revenue of $39.83 million — both below Wall Street analysts’ estimates.
Walgreens Boots Alliance — The pharmacy operator dropped more than 5 percent after an analyst at Baird slashed his price target on the stock to $67 per share from $70. “WBA is advancing many new initiatives (some supportable, some dubious), but can’t change its market environment, which is universally tough,” the analyst said.
Gap — Gap shares surged more than 18 percent after the retailer announced it was splitting into two independent publicly traded companies. One of those companies will be Old Navy, while the other will include brands like Banana Republic and Athleta.
L Brands — Shares of the Ohio-based retail business rebounded by more than 7 percent Friday. A day earlier, the stock dropped sharply after the company missed earnings expectations and issued lower-than-expected guidance. The owner of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works also announced it plans to close 53 Victoria’s Secret stores this year.
Dentsply Sirona — Shares of Dentsply Sirona surged more than 15 percent after the dental product manufacturer reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for the fourth quarter. Dentsply reported earnings of 58 cents a share, topping the 54 cents estimates by FactSet. Revenue came in at $1.06 billion, exceeding the expectation of $1.025 billion.
Foot Locker — Shares of Foot Locker rose 5.56 percent after the retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations. Foot locker reported that its same store sales were up 9.7 percent, more than double the 4.6 percent expected.
Nielsen Holdings — Shares of Nielsen rose more than 4 percent after the data analytics company posted better-than-expected sales in the fourth quarter and issued a strong outlook for 2019. The company’s revenue rose to $1.658 billion last quarter, versus FactSet estimate of $1.645 billion. For 2019, Nielsen sees earnings of $1.63 to $1.77 per share, higher than expectations of $1.22.
—CNBC’s Nadine El-Bawab, Kate Rooney and Yun Li contributed to this report.