Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Co., speaks at a press conference at the Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan on September 17, 2020.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
Check out the companies that are making the headlines in midday trading.
AMC Entertainment – The theater operator’s shares fell about 30% after AMC announced it would offer and sell up to 11.55 million shares of its Class A common stock. Additional shares dilute the value of the existing shares for shareholders. AMC caught Wall Street’s attention this week when retail investors doubled the ailing company. On Wednesday alone, the share rose 95%.
BlackBerry – The tech company’s shares fell more than 9% in midday trading, after rising more than 20% shortly after the opening bell. Blackberry has become one of the most talked about stocks on Reddit for the past few days, which has contributed to a rally.
GameStop, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Express – Other meme stocks popular with retail investors fell Thursday, reflecting AMC’s decline. GameStop shares, which made headlines in a retail-fueled short squeeze earlier this year, lost 11%. Bed Bath & Beyond shares fell nearly 27% after rising more than 60% the previous day. Express shares fell about 25% after the retailer announced a share sale plan of 15 million shares.
Ford – The American automaker is trading 5.7% higher after unveiling a new compact pickup truck called the Maverick, which is expected to hit the market by the end of the year. The company hopes the addition to its truck range will attract more customers to the west coast.
General Motors – General Motors shares rose more than 5% after the automaker announced it would increase production of large and midsize pickups in North America to meet rising demand. The company has also raised expectations for financial results from the first half of 2021.
Twitter – Twitter shares rose about 1% after the social media company launched its first subscription service, Twitter Blue, to diversify its advertising-dominated revenue streams. Users pay a low monthly fee for exclusive features and the company will begin rolling out in Canada and Australia.
FireEye – The cybersecurity firm’s shares fell more than 15% after the company announced it was selling its product business to Symphony Technology Group – a private equity firm – for $ 1.2 billion. The sale includes the name “FireEye”. The remaining cyber forensics unit will be called Mandiant Solutions. “Upon graduation, we will be able to focus solely on scaling our frontline intelligence and expertise through the Mandiant Advantage platform, while the FireEye product business will be able to invest in its cloud-first Prioritize security product portfolio, ”said CEO Kevin Mandia.
Ciena Corp – The communications technology company’s shares rose more than 8% after it announced its quarterly results this morning. Ciena achieved 62 cents per share, beating analyst estimates by 14 cents per share, and had sales of $ 834 million.
Splunk – The software company’s shares fell about 9% in midday trading after reporting an unexpectedly high quarterly loss. Splunk lost 91 cents per share, according to Refinitiv, more than the expected 70 cents per share. However, sales exceeded analyst estimates.
Tilray – The Canadian cannabis breeder’s shares rose 3.8% after Cantor Fitzgerald released new financial estimates for the company following the completion of its merger with Aphria. The brokerage listed Tilray as overweight and praised its size and international business opportunities.
Moderna – Moderna shares rose 2% in midday trading after the company announced it had signed a supply agreement with the Botswana government for its Covid-19 vaccine. This deal comes after Moderna reached an agreement with a World Health Organization-backed Covax initiative to provide up to 500 million doses of its vaccine.
– CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald, Tanaya Macheel, Yun Li, Tom Franck, Jesse Pound and Pippa Stevens contributed to the coverage
Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro.
Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV.
Sign in to get started Try it for free today