Delta Airlines passenger planes are pictured in front of the newly completed 1.3 million square foot, $4 billion Delta Airlines Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport in New York on June 1, 2022.
Mike Segar | Reuters
Check out the companies making headlines on Friday lunchtime.
Albertsons – Shares in Safeway’s owner fell 7% on news that Kroger has agreed to buy Albertsons for $24.6 billion, or $34.10 per share. KrogerShares of fell 4.8%.
JPMorgan Chase — The bank gained 2.8% after beating estimates for the most recent quarter. JPMorgan Chase said net interest income rose 34% to $17.6 billion for the period on higher interest rates.
MorganStanley — Morgan Stanley shares fell 4.6% after the bank released weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Earnings also fell short of expectations due to a slowdown in investment banking.
Citigroup — Citigroup rose more than 1% after its third-quarter revenue rose more than analysts expected, helped by rising interest rates. Citi’s earnings per share also beat Wall Street expectations. However, its profits fell 25% from the year-ago period as it increased its loan loss provisions and its investment banking collapsed.
Wells Fargo — Bank stock rose 3% after Wells Fargo reported quarterly earnings and sales that beat analysts’ expectations. The strong numbers came even after Wells set aside $784 million for loan losses. CEO Charlie Scharf said the bank is well positioned to continue benefiting from higher interest rates.
Delta Airlines – The airline received a 3% gain after Cowen upgraded its shares, citing the recovery in the travel industry which has led to a surge in business and international travel as pandemic restrictions ease.
Nasdaq — The stock exchange operator’s stock fell 5% after a double downgrade to underperform by Bank of America. The bank cited Nasdaq’s premium valuation and headwinds for 2023, which are expected to weigh on earnings per share, as reasons for the downgrade.
Beyond meat – Shares fell 6.8% after Beyond Meat announced it would cut 19% of its workforce as the plant-based meat company struggles with falling sales. Several top executives are leaving, including Chief Operating Officer Doug Ramsey, who was arrested after allegedly biting a man on the nose.
Tesla – Tesla shares fell more than 6% after a Wells Fargo analyst cut its price target on the electric vehicle stock to $230 from $280 per share. The analyst cited concerns about higher interest rates for the target cut.
United Health Group – Shares of the health insurer rose 1.2% after the company took a hit to both sales and profit for the third quarter, helped by lower costs for Covid-related tests and treatments. UnitedHealth also raised its financial outlook.
U.S. Bancorp – US Bancorp shares rose 3.7% after the bank’s third-quarter earnings beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations. The company reported earnings per share of $1.18 excluding special items compared to a StreetAccount estimate of $1.15 and revenue of $6.33 billion versus a StreetAccount estimate of 6.24 billion dollars.
Nutanix – Shares rose 23.1% after a Wall Street Journal report that a possible sale is being considered after the company received takeover interest. The cloud computing company will reportedly target private equity firms and industry competitors as potential buyers.
PNC Financial Services — The financial stock fell about 1% despite a stronger-than-expected earnings report. Higher yields on interest-bearing assets and loan growth drove the bank’s net interest income up, but PNC said it saw a decline in fee income.
Bank of the First Republic — Bank stock fell more than 14% after First Republic released its third-quarter results. The bank’s net interest margin came in below a StreetAccount forecast, as did the company’s total earnings for the quarter.
ViaSat — Shares of the satellite internet company fell nearly 1% after the UK competition regulator launched an in-depth investigation into ViaSat’s $7.3 billion deal to buy British competitor Inmarsat. The Competition and Markets Authority fears that the takeover would make it harder for competitors to do business in aviation and lead to higher prices for in-flight Wi-Fi on aircraft flights.
Howard Hughes Corp. — Howard Hughes stock rose 4% after Pershing Square Intl. 6.34 million shares offered at a price of up to $60 per share.
Northop Grumman – Defense stocks shed 6% on Friday after JPMorgan downgraded it to neutral. The bank cited Northop Grumman’s recent outperformance as the reason for the move.
– CNBC’s Yun Li, Tanaya Macheel, Michelle Fox, Sarah Min and Scott Schnipper contributed coverage
