Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Tesla Inc., speaks during an event at the SpaceX launch facility in Cameron County, Texas, U.S., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019.
Bronte Wittpenn | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines midday Monday:
Tesla — Shares of Tesla jumped 11.3%, surging past the $700 mark for the first time, after Argus Research raised its price target to the highest on Wall Street at $808 a share. Argus said it sees continued growth in sales of Tesla’s Model S and Model X models, “as well as strong demand for the new Model 3.”
Nike — The shoe giant rose 4.3% after UBS upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and JPMorgan added Nike to its “analyst focus list.” The firms said they recommend buying the recent dip in Nike shares, which are down in the past two weeks on worries about the Chinese coronavirus’s impact on Nike’s Asia revenue. JPMorgan said the recent pullback is a “multi-year buying opportunity.”
Sysco — Shares of Sysco dropped more than 6% after the company missed Wall Street’s estimates for its quarterly revenue. Sysco reported $15.025 billion in revenue, while analysts predicted $15.088 billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv. Despite the miss, Sysco beat earnings-per-share estimates by 1 cent.
Verizon — Verizon fell about 2% on Monday after Credit Suisse downgraded to stock to neutral from outperform. Credit Suisse said in a note to clients that it expects results in 2020 to be backloaded for the communications company and that it does not see “any near-term catalysts.”
Gilead Sciences — Gilead Sciences rose 4.6% on Monday morning after the company announced it is offering an experimental drug to treat the new coronavirus. The drug, called remdesivir, is not licensed or approved in any country, the company said in a statement, but it is being used as emergency treatment in some cases. The company also said it is working with officials in China to establish a trial for the drug.
Seagate Technology — Shares of the data storage company gained more than 1% after Stifel upgraded the stock to a buy rating, ahead of the company’s second quarter earnings report on Tuesday. The firm said the recent pullback has created a buying opportunity, and that shares are now more attractively valued. Stifel also raised its target to $70, which is about 20% above where the stock currently trades.
Nektar Therapeutics — The biopharma stock gained more than 7% after Mizuho upgraded Nektar to a buy rating. The firm said that there’s “good risk/reward going into 2020/2021 with key pivotal Phase 3 readouts in melanoma and bladder cancer indications starting in 4Q20.” Mizuho also raised its target on the stock to $35, which is 62% above where it currently trades.
Insmed — Shares of Insmed surged more than 40% after the biotechnology company released study results showing its treatment in adults with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis resulted in fewer pulmonary exacerbations.
PG&E — PG&E shares jumped more than 8% after the company submitted an updated Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. Under this new plan, PG&E will have “enhanced safety structure, improved operations, and a board and management team focused on providing the safe, reliable, and clean energy our customers expect,” the company said in a filing.
Check Point Software Technologies — Shares of the software company dipped 1.3% on the back of disappointing earnings guidance for the current quarter. Check Point Software expects first-quarter earnings per share to range between $1.37 and $1.43. That’s below a FactSet estimate of $1.46 per share. The weak guidance overshadowed a better-than-expected profit for the previous quarter
Uber Technologies — The ride-hailing giant’s stock gained more than 2.4% after an analyst at Wedbush added it to his “best ideas list,” noting Uber’s potential for profitability by 2021. “Our analysis of Uber’s growth dynamics, pricing rationalization in the ridesharing space, and Uber Eats strategy now lay the groundwork for a company going through a growth metamorphosis,” the analyst said in a note.
Northrop Grumman — Shares of Northrop Grumman slipped almost 4% after Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on the defense and aerospace giant to sell from buy. The firm said “differentiated growth keeps not coming through” for Northrop Grumman and “margins are compressing.” In terms of its price-to-earnings ratio, Northop Grumman is “the most expensive large-cap defense stock,” Goldman added.
—CNBC’s Michael Sheetz, Maggie Fitzgerald, Jesse Pound and Pippa Stevens contributed to this report.