Check out the companies making headlines in the midday trade
GameStop – The game retailer’s shares continued to rise, as the stock price more than doubled, exceeding $ 360, an increase of 140%. Retail investors have been driving the stock price, putting pressure on short sellers. Melvin Capital, which was selling at GameStop, closed its position on Tuesday afternoon after facing losses.
AMC Entertainment – The cinema operator saw a 175% increase, starting the day at $ 20.34, before dropping to around $ 15 per share. It is still a 200% increase over Tuesday’s closing. Turnover has increased dramatically for AMC Entertainment – more than 689 million shares have changed hands today – as retail investors continue to pressure short sellers.
Bed Bath & Beyond – Shares in the household goods retailer rose more than 35%, from $ 50, compared to its opening price of $ 42.98. The company has been a favorite of speculative traders, spurred on by small investors who bet against short sellers. Bed Bath & Beyond’s stock price has risen despite Baird downgrading the company’s rating on Wednesday to overperforming neutral.
Microsoft – Shares were up 2%, following strong quarterly earnings by the tech giant. Microsoft’s revenue grew 17% on an annualized basis due to growth in its cloud business, up from 12% growth in the previous quarter, according to a statement. Microsoft reported earnings per share of $ 2.03 over revenue of $ 43.08 billion. Wall Street expected $ 1.64 per share and revenue of $ 40.18 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Starbucks – The coffee chain saw its stock fall 5.75% in the midday trading session after it said Tuesday night that its same-store sales fell 5% during the first fiscal quarter amid an increase of new Covid-19 boxes. The company also announced that chief operating officer Roz Brewer will leave the company in late February to become CEO of another publicly traded company.
Advanced Micro Devices – AMD’s equity fell 4.8% in mid-trading, after reporting earnings on Tuesday slightly above analysts’ expectations, with earnings per share of 52 cents against the expected 47 cents. Despite the crashes, Wednesday’s trading left some analysts wondering if investors expected even more from the chip maker based in Santa Clara, California.
Boeing – The shares of the American aircraft maker fell 3% on Wednesday morning after the company reported a quarterly loss of $ 15.25 per share, thanks in part to the $ 8.3 billion in charges for the 737 Max and a delay in the 777-X program. CEO Dave Calhoun told CNBC on Wednesday that the slow launch of Covid-19 vaccines will prolong the recovery in travel demand.
F5 Networks – Shares in the app services company fell more than 3%, despite exceeding Wall Street estimates for its quarterly earnings. F5 reported earnings of $ 2.59 per share, compared to $ 2.47 per share expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. The company had revenues of US $ 625 million, in line with expectations.
Texas Instruments – Texas Instruments reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $ 1.64 per share, 30 cents above estimates, while the chip maker’s revenue was also above estimates, according to Refintiv. The chip maker’s shares, however, fell 4%.
Brinker International – The shares of the restaurant company fell more than 7% after Brinker reported the results of its second fiscal quarter. The company reported 35 cents of adjusted earnings per share on $ 761 million in revenue, slightly exceeding Refinitiv’s consensus estimates in both cases. Some analysts pointed out in customer notes that the number of earnings was driven by a tax benefit. Brinker said 18% of the sites in Chili and 31% of its sites in Maggiano are still closed due to the pandemic.
Anthem – Anthem’s shares fell more than 6%, despite exceeding Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom lines in its fourth quarter report. The insurer reported $ 2.54 in earnings per share and $ 31.82 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had reported $ 2.52 per share and $ 30.78 billion in revenue. The projections for earnings in 2021 were lower than expected, however, according to FactSet.
– with reports by Thomas Franck, Jesse Pound and Darla Mercado from CNBC.