In a fluctuating midday trading session, several companies are making notable moves following recent earnings reports and strategic announcements.
FactSet Research Systems experienced a sharp decline of 6% after reporting adjusted fourth quarter earnings of $4.05 per share, falling short of the $4.13 expected by analysts. The company also issued a full-year earnings guidance of between $16.90 and $17.60, which is significantly lower than the consensus estimate of $18.25. Despite the disappointing earnings, fourth-quarter revenue did exceed expectations.
Conversely, Wynn Resorts saw its stock rise by 2% after Stifel raised its price target to $145, driven by positive trends in the international gaming market. This new target suggests a potential upside of over 17% from the stock’s close on Wednesday.
The insurance company Allstate gained 4.8% in response to its report that catastrophe losses in July and August were only $397 million, a fraction of the $1.379 billion anticipated for the third quarter.
In a significant development, shares of Intel surged by 28% after Nvidia announced a $5 billion investment aimed at co-developing data center and PC products. Nvidia itself saw an increase of 3.5% following the announcement.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical firm, experienced a 6.3% jump in stock value as late-stage results for its once-daily obesity pill indicated “significant” weight loss, comparable to its injectable product Wegovy.
The cryptocurrency exchange Bullish soared 10.5% after releasing its first earnings report since going public, reporting earnings of 93 cents per diluted share on adjusted revenues of $57 million.
On the downside, Cracker Barrel reported adjusted earnings of 74 cents per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, missing the analysts’ estimate of 80 cents. This discrepancy led to a 7.2% drop in stock price, although its revenue of $868 million did surpass expectations of $855 million.
In the realm of ticket sales, StubHub saw its stock slip by 4.5%, following a 6.4% fall during its recent NYSE debut.
Meanwhile, stocks in the quantum technology sector saw an upswing following IonQ’s agreement with the Department of Energy to advance quantum technologies in space. Both IonQ and Quantum Computing rallied, with Rigetti Computing rising by 15% and D-Wave Quantum gaining 5.9%.
CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm, jumped 5% in early trading, buoyed by strong guidance provided during its investor day, where it announced a strategic partnership with Salesforce and its acquisition of AI security company Pangea.
Darden Restaurants, known for its Olive Garden franchise, dropped by 9% after its first-quarter earnings fell short of expectations. The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.97, while analysts were anticipating $2.00 per share, although revenue met expectations at $3.04 billion.
In the pharmaceutical sector, a statement from the health-insurance trade group AHIP indicated that health plans will continue covering all vaccines recommended by the government starting September 1. Following this announcement, shares of Moderna and BioNTech rose by 2%, with Pfizer also seeing a slight gain.
Finally, Amer Sports saw a 3.7% increase in stock price after raising its third-quarter revenue guidance, now expecting year-over-year growth in the high 20% range compared to the previous guidance of about 20%. Conversely, Nucor, a steel manufacturer, dropped 4.9% after projecting third-quarter earnings of $2.05 to $2.15 per share, below the FactSet consensus estimate of $2.57, citing weak performance across its operating segments compared to the second quarter.
