Connie Black makes adjustments to the manufacturing line for the series 6 solar panels seen during a tour of a First Solar plant in Walbridge, Ohio, October 6, 2021.
Dane Rhys | Reuters
Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday:
First Solar — Shares soared 26.48% after the solar company announced it is acquiring Evolar AB for up to $80 million. First Solar said the acquisition of the European company, which develops thin film used in solar panels, should accelerate its development of next-generation photovoltaic technology.
News Corp — The media company’s stock popped 8.48% after it reported an earnings and revenue beat for its fiscal third quarter after the bell Thursday, according to FactSet. The company also said it expects to save an annualized $160 million by the end of 2023 through its previously announced job cuts.
Icahn Enterprises — Carl Icahn’s holding company rebounded 11.85%, cutting this week’s losses to 12%. The stock has been on a wild ride after notable short seller Hindenburg Research took a short position, alleging “inflated” asset valuations and other reasons. Separately, Icahn Enterprises said its board approved a $500 million buyback authorization. The company also recently declared a $2 per share quarterly dividend.
JD.com — The Chinese e-commerce company’s U.S.-listed shares slid 6.19%, a day after gaining 7.2% on an earnings beat. JD.com also announced Thursday CEO Xu Lei will step down in June for “personal reasons” and will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Sandy Ran Xu.
Charles Schwab — Shares of the brokerage firm rose 2.54% Friday after the company reported total client assets rose 1% in April. CFO Peter Crawford said in a press release cash sorting activity by customers has continued to decline in May.
Twilio — Twilio shares dropped 3.48%. The move added to the decline that began after the communications software developer late Tuesday forecast earnings for the second quarter that missed analysts’ estimates. On Friday, Mizuho downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, saying it sees too many near-term challenges for Twilio.
Robinhood — The stock shed 9.43%. It’s a reversal from Thursday’s 6.4% gain, which came a day after Robinhood posted a first-quarter earnings and revenue beat. On Friday, Morgan Stanley said Robinhood’s new 24-hour trading, announced Wednesday, won’t provide any material lift for the company’s financials.
Fox — Shares recovered from an earlier dip and ended the day up fractionally. The move followed a downgrade of the media company by Wells Fargo to equal weight from overweight. The Wall Street firm cited demand challenges for linear TV and the costs for sports rights. Fox reported a net loss for its fiscal third quarter Tuesday due to the costs associated with Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.
Gen Digital — Gen Digital slid 5.48% following its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, which came after Thursday’s close. The cybersecurity firm posted adjusted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, per FactSet. However, its bookings of $1.02 billion for the quarter came in lighter than the $1.06 billion expected.
— CNBC’s Yun Li, Jesse Pound, Michael Bloom and Sarah Min contributed reporting.
