By Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday.
Pinterest — Shares climbed 6.59%. Wells Fargo upgraded Pinterest to overweight due to an Amazon partnership expected to take hold later this year and optimism that Pinterest can continue to boost user engagement.
Cruise stocks — Carnival popped 8.81%, Norwegian Cruise Line gained 7.55% and Royal Caribbean added 1.68%, extending gains from Tuesday after Carnival reported a smaller-than-expected loss for its second quarter and issued strong guidance. The sector has been on a tear this year as it recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.
General Mills — Shares tumbled 5.17% after the maker of Betty Crocker mixes and Cheerios cereal turned in a mixed earnings report for its fiscal fourth quarter. The company exceeded Wall Street expectations on earnings, posting $1.12 in adjusted earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $1.07 from analysts polled by Refinitiv. But $5.03 billion in revenue missed analysts’ forecast of $5.17 billion.
Chip stocks — Shares of Nvidia slipped 1.81% and Advanced Micro Devices was down 0.2%, paring earlier losses, following a Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. is weighing new restrictions on artificial intelligence chip stocks sold to China.
Netflix — The streaming giant jumped 3.06% after Oppenheimer raised its price target to $500 per share from $450. The Wall Street firm said it anticipated more subscribers and the potential discontinuation of its lowest-priced, ad-free plan, which is being tested in Canada.
Joby Aviation — Shares soared 40.22% after the company announced it received a permit to begin flight testing its first electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL).
AeroVironment — Shares added 4.86% after the military drone maker reported revenue of $186 million after the market close Tuesday, topping analysts’ projection of $164 million, according to consensus estimates from Refinitiv. AeroVironment also said it anticipates full-year revenue of $630 million to $660 million, beating the $600 million expected by analysts.
ZoomInfo — The software stock rose 6.09% after Needham initiated coverage of ZoomInfo with a buy rating. Needham said in a note to clients that ZoomInfo has “best in class unit economics.” ZoomInfo also received positive coverage from Morgan Stanley, which reiterated an overweight rating on the stock.
Snowflake — Shares added 3.86% after the data cloud company reiterated its full-year guidance during an investor day Tuesday. Goldman Sachs reiterated its buy rating on Snowflake after the event and Morgan Stanley maintained an overweight recommendation.
Circor International — The maker of flow control products for industrial and aerospace and defense markets users rallied 4.25% following a Reuters report that private equity firm Arcline has offered $57 per share, topping a rival bid from KKR.
First Citizens BancShares — The regional bank gained 0.4%. Atlantic Equities initiated coverage of the North Carolina bank Wednesday with an overweight rating and $1,775 per share price target, which suggests nearly 50% upside from Tuesday’s close.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Brian Evans, Jesse Pound and Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
