Stocks move mid-day: MU, PXD, SQ, AMC
A general view of Micron Technology’s building in Singapore, June 23, 2020.
Micron Gcm Studio | Reuters
Take a look at the companies making headlines on midday trading Monday.
Block — Shares in the payments stock lost 3% after a downgrade to market performance from outperform KBW. The firm cited pressure from “small risks that are starting to add up,” including potential regulatory scrutiny of its Cash App business.
Tesla — Shares of Elon Musk’s electric car company fell more than 1.5% after the firm announced another price cut in the United States, its fifth since the start of the year. The move came as tougher US standards are set to reduce the $7,500 tax credit available for Tesla’s Model 3. The electric car maker also said on Sunday it will open a new Megafactory in Shanghai capable of producing 10,000 Megapacks – large batteries – a year.
Pioneer Natural Resources – The fracking giant’s shares rose nearly 6% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Exxon Mobil has held informal talks to buy Pioneer. The Exxon share fell 0.6 percent.
Micron Technology — Micron Technology’s shares rose 8% after rival Samsung Electronics announced plans to cut memory chip production in the near term. Many Wall Street analysts said the move could accelerate a return to balance between supply and demand and a potential slowdown in the chipmaking sector. Chip giant Western Digital also added around 8%.
Excelerate Energy, EQT and other gas stocks — Shares of Excelerate Energy, EQT and other gas stocks ticked higher as natural gas futures rose. Excelerate gained more than 1%, while EQT jumped 3.7% and Matador Resources gained 2.9%. Excelerate also received a boost from a new Deutsche Bank report, in which the firm initiated coverage on the stock, rated it a buy and said it was trading below its industry peers.
Apple, Google, Microsoft — Shares of major technology companies were in the red during Monday’s trading. Apple’s share price lost 2%, Google parent Alphabet fell 2.8% and Microsoft lost 1.4%.
Taiwan Semiconductor — Shares of the chip giant fell 2.2% in midday trading after the company saw a decline in monthly revenue for the first time in four years. The stock is still up approximately 17% since the start of the year. Last month, Bank of America upgraded its price target on the company, believing it will benefit from investor interest in generative artificial intelligence.
New Fortress Energy — The stock rose 4% after Deutsche Bank initiated New Fortress as a buy. The bank said the company is well positioned in the liquefied natural gas sector, which it believes has “the potential to create major investment opportunities.”
Nikola — Shares fell 3% after Evercore ISI reiterated its in-line rating. The firm also cut its price target in half to $1, saying the company has too many headwinds.
Five Below — Shares of the discount retailer rose 3.9% after Roth MKM said Five Below could be helped by the success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which reported stronger than expected box office results.
AMC Entertainment, IMAX, Cinemark Holdings — Shares of major theater chains were in the green Monday after the box office success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”, which was made by Universal Pictures. AMC’s share price rose 6.7%, IMAX rose 2% and Cinemark rose 5.7%.
– CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Hakyung Kim, Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Alex Harring and Brian Evans contributed reporting
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
