Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
CarMax — CarMax shares fell nearly 4.9% despite the used car retailer’s better-than-expected quarterly report. The company posted earnings of $1.63 per share, 19 cents above the Refinitiv consensus estimate and revenue came in at $8.53 billion, $1 billion higher than expected.
Tesla — Tesla shares rallied 7% after CEO Elon Musk said he sold “enough stock” to reach his goal of offloading 10% of his shares. On Tuesday, Musk sold another 583,611 shares, bringing the total number of shares he has offloaded to 13.5 million.
BlackBerry — BlackBerry shares dropped more than 1% even after the company posted quarterly results on Tuesday that beat Wall Street expectations. The communications software maker posted a breakeven quarter on an adjusted basis, while analysts expected a loss of 7 cents per share, according to StreetAccount. However, current quarter forecasts for cybersecurity products fell shy of the StreetAccount consensus estimate.
Caterpillar — Shares of the industrial giant gained 1.6% after Bernstein upgraded the company to an outperform rating. The firm said expectations are low for Caterpillar despite plenty of upside heading into 2022. “Although the slope of its secular growth trajectory remains an outstanding question, the cycle is calling CAT’s name and the path is clearing for the stock to outperform over these next 12 months,” the firm said.
Alibaba — Alibaba shares fell more than 4% after Atlantic Equities downgraded the Chinese e-commerce company’s stock to a neutral rating from overweight. The firm was concerned Alibaba’s shopping platforms will not improve performances in the near term.
Darden Restaurants — Darden Restaurants saw its shares rally 1.9% after it received an upgrade to a buy rating from hold from Stifel. The firm liked the Olive Garden-parent’s upbeat quarterly results last week.
Williams-Sonoma — Shares of the home goods store rose 2% after Loop Capital Markets upgraded Williams-Sonoma to buy from hold. Loop said in a note to clients that the company could benefit from the return of people staying away from homes and offices.
Coinbase — Shares of the crypto services firm added 2.2% after Oppenheimer named the company a top pick for 2022, betting that adoption of digital assets by investors will continue and provide attractive returns for long-term investors. The move also comes as the bitcoin price climbs higher. The two tend to trade in tandem because of Coinbase’s reliance on trading fees.
Paychex — Paychex shares rose 5.2% after the payroll services company reported strong quarterly earnings. The company posted a profit of 91 cents per share on revenue of $1.11 billion. Analysts surveyed by StreetAccount expected earnings of 80 cents per share on revenue of $1.06 billion.
— CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Pippa Stevens and Tanaya Macheel contributed reporting
