Stocks with the biggest gains at noon: NVDA, WMT, DFS | Private Equity Weekly
Take a look at the companies making headlines in midday trading. SEMICONDUCTORS — Popular semiconductor stocks fell in midday trading, with Nvidia falling more than 6% ahead of Wednesday’s data. AMD is still down nearly 10% even after Rosenblatt set a price target of street highs. Advanced Micro Devices fell about 6% and Marvell Technology fell nearly 4%. Walmart — Shares of Walmart rose more than 3% and hit an all-time high on Tuesday after the retailer reported earnings. Walmart beat expectations for holiday quarter results and announced its acquisition of TV maker Vizio. Vizio shares soared about 15%. Discover Financial – Shares of Discover Financial soared 14% after the credit card issuer agreed to be acquired by Capital One Financial in a $35.3 billion all-stock deal. Capital One’s shares were little changed. The company expects the merger to help expand its credit card products and deposit base. Caterpillar — Shares of Caterpillar fell more than 2% after Evercore ISI downgraded the industrial machinery giant to consensus from outperform. The Wall Street firm said investors should take profits after the stock rose more than 25% in the past year. Home Depot — Shares of Home Depot were last down less than 1% after the home improvement retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings. Home Depot said its quarterly sales fell nearly 3% year over year, but still beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue expectations. At the same time, the company expects sales to grow 1% in fiscal 2024. Barclays – U.S.-listed shares of Barclays soared 11% after the bank announced a major operational restructuring that included cost-cutting measures. Barclays also announced a £1 billion share buyback program. The bank reported an annual decline in attributable net profit in 2023 and forecast lower than expected. Airline stocks — Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines rose 3.6% and 1.3%, respectively, after Deutsche Bank upgraded their ratings on shares of Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines to buy from hold. The company cited “the backdrop of improving domestic supply.” Bernstein upgraded Southwest to market perform. Medtronic — Shares of Medtronic rose 2.5% after the medical device company beat Wall Street estimates for fiscal third-quarter revenue and profit. Medtronic also issued higher-than-expected full-year profit guidance, now expecting earnings per share to be between $5.19 and $5.21. Analysts polled by FactSet forecast $5.16 a share. American Foods — Shares of the food distributor rose nearly 1% after Piper Sandler upgraded its rating to overweight from neutral. The investment firm said shares of U.S. food companies have a “relatively clear path to the upside” given the continued strength of the U.S. economy. Arm Holdings — Shares of the British chip designer fell 6%, pulling back from a 2024 rally. Since its earnings report earlier this month, Arm’s share price has been on a rollercoaster ride due to a variety of factors. —CNBC’s Yun Li, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel, Hakyung Kim and Brian Evans contributed reporting.
