Delta Air Lines passenger planes are seen parked due to flight reductions made to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. March 25, 2020.
Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters
Check out the companies making headlines midday Monday:
Alaska, United and Delta Air Lines — The stocks of the major U.S. airlines fell across the board Monday as reignited fears over the spread of Covid-19 weighed on companies with exposure to travel demand. United and Alaska Air fell 4.1% and 3.3%, respectively, while JetBlue and Delta lost 3.2% and 2.9%. Investors fear a resurgence in new coronavirus cases could lead governments to reinstitute travel restrictions and prolong a return to normal air travel trends.
Moderna — Moderna shares gained more than 3% after an Israeli news outlet said the country’s government was buying the firm’s coronavirus vaccine, which recently entered its final stages of clinical trials.
Shopify — The e-commerce stock rose 5.2% after Walmart announced a partnership that would allow Shopify’s third-party sellers to list on the retail giant’s website. Piper Sandler also upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral, forecasting strong revenue growth.
Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean — Shares of cruise lines dropped on Monday as investors ditched riskier stocks on concerns about a second coronavirus wave. Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line fell 4.9% and Carnival dropped 5.2%. Royal Caribbean ticked 2.9% lower.
RH — An analyst at Loop Capital upgraded RH to buy from hold, noting the home furnishing companies is “well positioned” for the “post-pandemic landscape.” The analyst also hiked his price target on the stock to $300 per share from $250. RH shares traded 4.7% higher around $246 per share.
Six Flags — Shares of the theme park company jumped 3.5% after research firm B. Riley FBR upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $31 per share from $27. The firm said in a note that it is easy for theme park operators to turn a profit even with limits on capacity due to health concerns. For Six Flags in particular, the analysts said a possible announcement of a restart of its China expansion could boost the stock.
BP — BP shares dropped more than 3% after the energy giant announced plans to take a writedown of up to $17.5 billion for the current quarter. CEO Bernard Looney said in a statement the coronavirus outbreak “increasingly looks as if it will have an enduring economic impact.”
AstraZeneca — AstraZeneca rose more than 1% after the pharmaceutical giant signed a contract with European governments providing them with millions of doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate.
SelectQuote — Shares of the life insurance company gained more than 3% after Credit Suisse began coverage of the stock with an outperform rating. SelectQuote went public on May 21 with an IPO pricing of $20 a share, and now it’s trading above $28 apiece. The stock has gained a few recommendations from Wall Street analysts since its IPO, including Piper Sandler, Cantor Fitzgerald and RBC Capital.
Starbucks — Starbucks fell 0.8% in midday trading despite Atlantic Equities initiating coverage at the coffee chain at overweight and Citigroup reiterating its buy rating on the stock. Though both brokerages recommend investors own Starbucks’ equity, Citi trimmed its price target on Starbucks to $87 per share from $89 per share. Atlantic set a target of $95 a share, which implies 24% upside from Friday’s close.
—CNBC’s Yun Li, Maggie Fitzgerald, Jesse Pound, Tom Franck and Michael Bloom contributed to this report.