Here are the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Virgin Galactic, Maxar Technologies — Shares of the space stocks jumped on news that Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest is launching a space-exploration ETF. Shares of commercial spaceflight pure play Virgin Galactic surged 16% and satellite communications stock Maxar Technologies jumped 27%.
Delta Air Lines — Shares of the airline popped more than 3% after reporting its cash burn averaged $12 million a day in the quarter ended Dec. 31, down by half from its average cash burn of $24 million a day in the third quarter. Delta missed analysts expectations for earnings per share but topped estimates for revenue.
General Motors — The legacy automaker continued its strong week on Wall Street, with its shares rising 5.4%. Investment firm Argus upgraded the stock to buy from hold, saying in a note to clients that it was bullish on GM’s electric vehicle plan and that the market undervalues its traditional business.
Chipotle Mexican Grill — Shares of the restaurant chain gained 3% after RBC upgraded the stock to outperform from sector perform. The firm said in a note that Chipotle’s success in opening up new locations should help it accelerate growth after the pandemic shut down competitors.
Poshmark — Shares of the online clothing reseller more than doubled after the company’s initial public offering, continuing a recent trend of massive pops for IPOs.
Nordstrom – Shares of the retailer slid more than 3% after Nordstrom said holiday season sales fell 22% year over year. Digital sales made up 54% of the retailer’s total sales during the period. Following the release of the sales numbers, Telsey Advisory Group downgraded the stock to a market perform rating.
BlackRock – Shares of the world’s largest asset manager dropped more than 3% even after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. BlackRock said its adjusted quarterly profit came in at $10.18 per share for the fourth quarter, beating the Refinitiv consensus estimate of $9.14, with revenue above estimates as well. Its assets under management also grew to a record $8.68 trillion during the quarter. The stock climbed more than 43% last year.
GameStop – The video game company’s stock soared another 17% after a 57% rally in the previous session. The strength came after GameStop said Chewy co-founder and former CEO Ryan Cohen is joining its board. There was also a rush of short covering that pushed prices higher.
Intel – Shares of the chipmaker advanced more than 5% after a number of Wall Street analysts hiked their rating on the company. The bullish calls follow Intel’s announcement that CEO Bob Swan will step down with VMWare CEO Pat Gelsinger taking the helm. “No quick fix, but with Gelsinger, there is light at the end of the tunnel,” Morgan Stanley said. BMO and Cowen were among the other firms to upgrade the stock.
Ethan Allen Interiors — Shares of the furniture company jumped more than 5% after Ethan Allen’s preliminary results for its fiscal second quarter topped expectations. The company said it expected between 67 cents and 69 cents in adjusted earnings per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting 46 cents per share. Ethan Allen’s CEO said in a statement that the company had record high order backlog at the end of December.
Signet Jewelers — The jewelry stock climbed more than 7% after Signet said its same store sales during the holiday season were up by 5.6% compared with the same period in 2019. The company’s ecommerce sales jumped nearly 61% year over year.
