A Peloton office sign is seen near a person riding a bicycle as the city moves into Phase 3 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic on July 16, 2020 in New York City.
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Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Activision Blizzard — The video game giant saw its shares soar by about 27% after it announced Microsoft will buy it in a $68.7 billion all-cash deal, Microsoft’s largest acquisition to date. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who has faced calls to resign over cultural problems within the company, will remain CEO during the transition. Gaming companies Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive also rose about 6% and 5%, respectively, and were among the top gainers in the S&P 500. Microsoft shares fell more than 1%.
Goldman Sachs — Shares of the investment bank dropped 8% following disappointing quarterly results, dragging down the major averages. Goldman posted fourth-quarter profit below analysts’ expectations as the bank’s operating expenses surged 23% on higher pay for Wall Street workers and increased litigation reserves. Other large banks fell Tuesday as well after reporting rising expenses for the quarter. Morgan Stanley dropped about 5% while JPMorgan was off roughly 4%. Citi slid about 2%.
Bank of New York Mellon — The bank’s stock fell about 2% despite reporting quarterly earnings that exceeded Wall Street analysts’ expectations. BNY Mellon reported $1.04 per share in its most recent quarterly earnings, compared with estimates of $1.01 cents. Revenue came in at $4.02 billion, versus expectations of $3.98 billion.
BlackRock — The asset manager saw its shares fall by more than 2% after its CEO, Larry Fink, fired back at accusations that it uses its position to influence a politically correct agenda. In his annual letter. Fink said stakeholder capitalism isn’t about politics and is “not woke.”
Charles Schwab — The brokerage’s stock slid more than 5% after the company reported a quarterly miss on both earnings and revenue. Schwab reported earnings of 86 cents per share, falling short of estimates by 2 cents per share. Revenue came in at $4.71 billion, vs. expectations of $4.79 billion.
Gap — Shares of the retailer dropped nearly 7% after Morgan Stanley downgraded Gap to underweight from equal-weight. The investment firm said in a note that rising cost pressures and strong competition could hurt Gap’s profit margins in 2022.
Citrix Systems — The enterprise software firm’s shares jumped more than 5% following a Bloomberg News report over the weekend that Elliott Investment Management and Vista Equity Partners are in advanced talks to buy Citrix. Both firms have reportedly tapped banks to finance their offer, and a deal could be announced within a few weeks.
Exxon Mobil — Shares of the oil giant gained nearly 1% as oil prices jumped to the highest level in seven years. Through midday trading on Wall Street, energy stocks were the only S&P 500 sector to trade down by less than 1%, though Exxon was the only company from the group trading in the green. Exxon on Tuesday announced plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 for its operations.
Moderna — Shares fell about 8% even after the vaccine maker said it expects to be able to share data from an Omicron-specific vaccine with regulators in March, CEO Stephane Bancel said at the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda conference. He also said a single vaccine combining a booster dose against Covid-19 with its experimental flu shot would, in the best-case scenario, be available by fall 2023.
Peloton — The stock fell more than 5% after CNBC reported the at-home fitness company is working with management consulting group McKinsey & Co. to review its cost structure and potentially cut some jobs. The news came after CNBC reported the company is set to charge delivery fees on its bike and treadmill products.
— CNBC’s Pippa Stevens, Yun Li, Jesse Pound and Hannah Miao contributed reporting
