Stocks making the biggest moves midday: U.S. Steel, Tesla, Unity Software, Beyond Meat & more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. 

U.S. Steel — U.S. Steel shares popped more than 9% after the company reported a smaller-than-expected loss for its fiscal third quarter. U.S. Steel posted a loss of $1.45 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of $1.52 per share. CEO David Burritt said “improving market conditions experienced in June and July have accelerated through August and September.”

Unity Software — Shares of Unity Software soared more than 36% on its first day of trading. The software company — which trades on the Nasdaq under ticker “U” — is trading above $70 per share, above its IPO price of $52 per share. Unity follows the market debut of software storage company Snowflake on Wednesday, the biggest software IPO in history.

Tesla – Shares jumped more than 4% ahead of the company’s Battery Day on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley said the event could be “potentially narrative changing” for the company in a note to clients on Friday. Separately, Piper Sandler raised its target to $515 from $480, pointing to “poorly-understood” aspects of the company’s business model, including the energy segment.

Beyond Meat – Beyond Meat fell more than 6% in midday trading on Friday after JPMorgan downgraded the alternative meat company due to “sluggish” fundamentals and said the stock was “ahead of itself.” We think “the stock is ahead of itself and we view Street estimates as too high, thanks to chief rival Impossible Foods taking share at grocery and restaurants hesitating to add menu complexity during the COVID-19 crisis,” the brokerage said in a note.

SunPower — Shares of solar storage company ticked 4% higher after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to equal weight from underweight. The Wall Street firm attributed the upgrade to possible margin expansion and higher storage penetration.

Dave & Buster’s — Shares of the entertainment and restaurant chain continued to swing wildly, jumping nearly 13% on Friday. Raymond James upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform, saying its recent sell-off was “overdone.” The company disclosed last week that it could possibly be forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy later this year. It made a similar disclosure last quarter as well.

Home Depot – Shares of Home Depot fell 1.1% in midday trading after Oppenheimer cut its rating on the home-improvement retailer and reduced its price target on shares from $320 to $305. Oppenheimer also cut its rating on Lowe’s from outperform to perform. “Our updated models for HD and LOW reflect a ‘base case,’ whereby comp trends gradually moderate to about pre-COVID-19 levels,” the note said.

Foot Locker — Shares of Foot Locker gained about 1% after Argus Research upgraded the footwear retailer to buy from hold. The Wall Street firm said consumers “have returned to stores with intentions to buy merchandise” while digital sales remained strong.

— CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald, Fred Imbert, Pippa Stevens, Jesse Pound and Thomas Franck contributed reporting.

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