Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Wells Fargo, Palantir, Shopify and more

Stock Market

A man walks past a Wells Fargo Bank branch on a rainy morning in Washington.

Gary Cameron | Reuters

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Wells Fargo — The bank stock jumped more than 5% after Bloomberg News reported that Fed officials had signaled to Wells Fargo that they would approve its overhaul plan. Wells Fargo has been operating under several restrictions, including an asset camp, related to its fake accounts scandal under prior leadership.

Shopify – Shares of the e-commerce company dropped about 5% even after an earnings and revenue beat. Shopify earned an adjusted $1.58 per share for the fourth quarter, beating the $1.26 consensus estimate, according to Refinitiv. The company has been one of the biggest pandemic winners as businesses sought to move operations online. The stock soared 184% in 2020 and another 21% this year.

Palantir — Shares of the tech company rose close to 3% on Wednesday after an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. The investment firm upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, saying visibility into the company’s growth was improving and praising its efficiency. The rise follows a drop of more than 12% on Tuesday on the heels of Palantir’s latest quarterly report. 

Chevron, Verizon — Shares of Chevron and Verizon rose nearly 2% and more than 4%, respectively, after SEC filings revealed Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought a $4.1 billion stake in Chevron and $8.6 billion in Verizon shares during the fourth quarter.

La-Z-Boy – Shares of the furniture maker dipped more than 8% after the company said its third quarter results declined year over year due to impacts from Covid-19. For the period the company reported a 74 cent per share profit excluding items, on $470.2 million in revenue. There were too few analyst estimates for any type of Street consensus reading. The company also announced that its CEO will retire effective April 25.

Vir Biotechnology — Shares of Vir Biotechnology popped nearly 11% following an announcement that its Covid-19 antibody partnership with GlaxoSmithKline will be expanded to research therapies for other diseases.

DoorDash – Shares of the food delivery service were down more than 6% in midday trading even after an SEC filing showed Tiger Global Management Fund purchased more than a million DoorDash shares in the fourth quarter.

Choice Hotels International – The hotel stock fell more than 2.8% after the company reported a revenue miss. Choice Hotels earned $51 cents in the fourth quarter, lower than a FactSet estimate of 64 cents. Its revenue came in above expectations, however.

AIG — Shares of the insurance giant rose close to 1.6% following its better-than-expected quarterly results. AIG reported earnings of 94 cents per share, 1 cent above estimates, according to Refinitiv.

SolarEdge Technologies – Shares of the solar energy company were up about 1% in midday trading, following the release of stronger-than-forecast quarterly results. SolarEdge earned 98 cents per share, beating a Refinitiv estimate by 11 cents. The company added it expects better sales this quarter in the United States.

— with reporting from CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Pippa Stevens, Yun Li and Rich Mendez.

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