Here’s a look at companies catching the eye in midday trading: Rocket Lab – The space company soared more than 16% to a 52-week high after packaging and shipping two Mars-bound spacecraft to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for launch. The two spacecraft were designed, built, integrated and tested by Rocket Lab for the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Institute and NASA. Bayern Nordic – The Danish biotech company soared more than 16% after submitting data to the European Union’s drug regulator to expand use of its mpox vaccine to teenagers. CEO Paul Chaplin told CNBC that the expanded approval to individuals ages 12 to 17 is essential to combat the spread of the latest strain of the virus. H&R Block – The tax services provider soared more than 16% after its fourth-quarter earnings beat market expectations, raised its dividend and approved a $1.5 billion share buyback. H&R Block also issued a fiscal 2025 outlook that reflects another year of revenue growth. Bayer – The German life sciences company surged more than 10% after winning a legal victory in a lawsuit over claims that exposure to Roundup herbicide caused cancer. This follows allegations that Monsanto, which Bayer acquired, violated state law by failing to add a cancer warning to Roundup’s label. JD.com – The Chinese e-commerce provider surged more than 5% after better-than-expected quarterly results. JD’s second-quarter profit rose 74% year-over-year to 9.36 yuan per share excluding overhead, while analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected 6.07 yuan per share. The solid results were boosted by price cuts that attracted cost-conscious consumers. Applied Materials – The semiconductor equipment maker also fell 3% after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results. The company earned $2.12 per share on revenue of $6.78 billion. Fourth-quarter guidance was also in line with expectations. Shares have risen 51% over the past year. Amcor – This packaging stock fell more than 5% as sales slowed in the most recent quarter. Amcor reported net sales of $3.54 billion for the quarter, down from $3.67 billion a year ago and below analysts’ expectations of $3.57 billion, according to Street accounts. Amcor saw sales declines in both its rigid and flexible divisions. Coherent – Shares rose 3.1% as the electronics maker beat Wall Street expectations in its fourth-quarter results. Coherent reported earnings per share, excluding items, of 61 cents on revenue of $1.31 billion, beating analysts surveyed by FactSet’s expectations of 60 cents per share on revenue of $1.28 billion. Sphere Entertainment – This live entertainment stock rose 6.2% after JPMorgan raised its rating to overweight from neutral. JPMorgan said the company’s Las Vegas Sphere venue has become a “tourism market mainstay” for both travelers and artists. Sphere also said it should be able to open venues overseas. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Samantha Subin, Yun Lee and Pia Shin contributed to this report.
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