A pedestrian walks past a Victoria’s Secret storefront closed and boarded up on Robson Street during the COVID-19 crisis on April 17, 2020 in Vancouver, Canada.
Andrew Chin | Getty Images
Here are the stocks making headlines in midday trading.
L Brands — Shares of L Brands led the S&P 500 higher on Thursday with a 5% rally after the company reported a surprise quarterly profit despite Covid-19 business closures. Sharp demand for soaps and sanitizing products helped lift the company’s Bath & Body Works business, while Victoria’s Secret saw a 28% climb in online sales.
Estee Lauder — Shares of beauty company plunged more than 7% following its disappointing quarterly results. Estee Lauder reported a loss of 53 centers per share, far wider a loss than the 19 cents per share expected. Revenue also missed estimates. Estee Lauder made $2.43 billion in revenue, below the forecast $2.45 billion. Estee Lauder said it launching a two-year initiative to rebalance its investments, which will include a reduction in its retail footprint and increased emphasis on digital sales. It also plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs globally.
CureVac — Shares of the German biotech company jumped more than 14% after the company announced that it is in advanced talks with the European Commission to supply up to 405 million doses of a potential Covid-19 vaccine. The company’s vaccine candidate is currently in phase one trials.
Tesla – Shares of Tesla jumped nearly 6% to hit an all-time high of $1994.75, approaching the $2,000 mark. The electric car maker’s stock has soared more than 20% this week alone, pushing its massive 2020 gains to over 370%. There were no apparent headlines on Thursday that could prompt the rally, but investors have been even more enthusiastic about the stock after Tesla announced a 5-for-1 stock split, which takes effect on Aug.31.
Synopsys — The semiconductor design company saw its stock rise 4.9% after reporting better-than-expected results for its fiscal third quarter. The company reported $1.74 in adjusted earnings per share on $964.1 million in revenue, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $1.94 in earnings per share and $894.1 million in revenue. The company said in a release that it was confident in its “outlook and resilient business model” and raised its forecasts for revenue and earnings.
Alibaba – Shares of the China-based e-commerce giant slid more than 1%, despite first quarter earnings beating analyst estimates on the top and bottom line. The company said that mobile users increased by 28 million during the quarter, bringing total mobile users to 874 million.
Shake Shack – Shares of the fast food chain traded more than 2% higher after Wedbush lifted its rating on the stock to outperform from neutral. “SHAK was the preeminent growth story within restaurants pre-COVID, and we believe the growth story is even more attractive post-COVID,” the firm said. Wedbush’s 12-month price target of $77 is about 40% above where the stock currently trades.
Intel — The tech stock rose 2% after the company announced an accelerated $10 billion stock buyback program. The company said it believes its shares were “well below intrinsic valuation.” The stock had dropped roughly 20% over the past month.
Elanco — Shares of the animal health company rose 7% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral. The firm said in a note that it was bullish on the “long-term prospects” for the company and said that the company’s earnings growth could be strong even if sales growth is only “moderate.”
—CNBC’s Yun Li, Pippa Stevens, Maggie Fitzgerald and Tom Franck contributed to this story.
