A worker assembles a box for delivery at the Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore, Maryland, April 30, 2019
Clodagh Kilcoyne | Reuters
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Amazon — Amazon jumped nearly 9% in midday trading after the e-commerce giant reported fourth-quarter earnings well ahead of Wall Street consensus expectations. The company’s revenues grew 21% to $87.44 billion for the quarter as its investments in quick shipping lead to more orders. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said “more people joined Prime this quarter than ever before.”
IBM — Shares of IBM jumped more than 4% after the computer software company announced CEO Ginni Rometty will step down in April. Rometty, who has served at the helm of the company since 2012, will be replaced by Arvind Krishna. Shares of IBM were down about 22% since Rometty became CEO.
Exxon Mobile — Stock of the United States’ largest oil company lost more than 4% after the company’s fourth-quarter earnings results showed weakness in the company’s downstream and chemicals business. For the quarter Exxon said it earned $5.69 billion, boosted by $3.7 billion from its Norway divestment.
Colgate-Palmolive — Shares of the consumer products company rose more than 6% after it issued a strong forecast for 2020 revenue growth. Colgate-Palmolive said it expects revenue will grow between 4% and 6% this year, above the 3.8% pace analysts expected according to FactSet. It reported fourth-quarter earnings in-line with expectations, with revenue slightly above as well.
Chevron — Shares of the oil giant slid more than 2% after the company reported a $6.6 billion loss for the fourth quarter. Chevron said the loss was driven by $10.4 billion in write-offs related to its shale gas production, primarily in Appalachia. The company missed revenue expectations for the quarter, pressured by weakness in upstream operations and low oil and natural gas prices.
Delta Air Lines & American Airlines — Delta’s stock dropped 2% after the company announced on Friday that it’s suspending service to mainland China due to the coronavirus. Delta said it will halt China service starting Feb. 6 and last through April 20. American slipped about 3% after the company announced a similar move, declaring it would pause service to China through March 27 in light of the disease.
Luckin — China-based Luckin Coffee plunged 20% in midday trading after Muddy Waters Research tweeted that it’s betting against the stock in light of what it described as fraud and a “fundamentally broken business.” Noted short seller Carson Block, founder and manager of Muddy Waters, is known for turning profits by leveraging his aptitude for detecting underhanded business practices, especially in China.
— CNBC’s Yun Li, Sunny Kim, Pippa Stevens, Michael Sheetz and Maggie Fitzgerald contributed to this report.