A Virgin Galactic logo can be seen outside the building on the company’s first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 28, 2019 in New York City.
JOHANNES EISELE | AFP | Getty Images
Check out the companies that are making headlines in mid-day trading.
Virgo Galactic The space company’s shares fell 14% after a filing revealed Chairman Chamath Palihapitya sold his personal holding of 6.2 million shares for approximately $ 213 million. He still owns 15.8 million shares with investment partner Ian Osborne. Palihapitiya said in a statement to CNBC that he plans to divert the sale “into a large investment I’m making to fight climate change.”
Ark Innovation – Cathie Wood’s flagship ETF stocks fell more than 6% as rising interest rates put pressure on innovation stocks. The fund’s top positions were all in the red. Tesla’s shares fell 7%, Square and Roku lost 6% each, and Baidu fell 8%. CRISPR Therapeutics fell nearly 10% and Shopify pulled back 7.5%.
Big Lots – Retail stocks were down more than 3% on comparative store sales results for the fourth quarter, with mixed expectations. The company recorded comparable sales growth of 7.9%, ahead of the 8.4% forecast by analysts, according to FactSet. The company didn’t provide a full-year forecast, citing the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and government incentives. Earnings per share exceeded expectations based on Refinitiv estimates.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings – Norwegian shares fell 14%, trailing other troubled cruise names after the company announced another stock offering. The company sells approximately 47.6 million shares for $ 30 per share. Norwegian said it plans to use the funds to buy back debt.
Cisco Systems – Cisco Systems stocks rose more than 3% after JPMorgan revalued shares from neutral to overweight. “We are upgrading CSCO stocks to overweight positions by tracking the rebound in corporate IT spending ahead of expectations, tracking the move to subscriptions on the right track, and still making a low-cost valuation after underperforming competitors,” the said Companies.
Nikola – Shares in the electric vehicle maker fell more than 7% after JPMorgan downgraded the stock from overweight to neutral. The Wall Street firm said the “good news” was already the price of Nikolas stock.
Gap – The clothing retailer’s shares rose more than 6% after the company forecast a rebound in sales growth in 2021 as more consumers return to stores. Gap reported sales in the fourth quarter that were below estimates during the pandemic, but resulted in a profit thanks to its efforts to sell more merchandise at full price and progress it made in closing underperforming stores .
Oracle – Technology stock rose 7% after Barclays switched the company from equal weight to overweight. Barclays cited “an improving cloud mix and better IT spending environment” as factors driving Oracle stocks higher.
Hibbett Sports – The sports retailer’s stock fell more than 5% on mixed fourth quarter results. The company had earnings per share of $ 1.40 on sales of $ 367.8 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings per share of $ 1.37 on sales of $ 380.9 million. However, Hibbett announced a record year for 2020, thanks in part to an increase in online sales.
IMAX Corp. Imax stock rose 11% after the company announced it expected better results this year as consumers return to theaters. The jump comes despite the theater operator reporting mixed fourth quarter results and the company’s loss per share beating a refinitive estimate. However, Imax also had better-than-expected sales for the quarter.
– with reports from Yun Li, Jesse Pound and Rich Mendez of CNBC.