Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Foot Locker – The footwear and apparel retailer shed 1% on the back of a Citi downgrade to sell from neutral. Citi said Foot Locker is in a bad environment to stage a turnaround. Carnival — Shares added 1.6% after being upgraded to buy from hold by Melius Research. The company likes Carnival’s transformation since CEO Josh Weinstein took the helm a year ago. Melius also believes that the cruise industry is expected to be the most compelling arrangement in the travel sector in the coming year. Crown Castle – The telecoms stock jumped 3.4% after an activist push for change at Crown Castle. Elliott Investment Management, which has about a $2 billion stake in Crown Castle, called for new executive and board leadership, as well as a strategic and operational review of its fiber business, according to a letter released Monday. The Wall Street Journal on Sunday first reported the news. Crown Castle shares are down 20% this year. Okta – Shares of the software company fell 4% on Monday after JMP Securities downgraded Okta to market perform. JMP had its rating on the stock under review after Okta suffered a cyber security breach in October. The investment firm said in a note to clients on Monday that the security event led to Okta’s brand being “significantly degraded”. Okta is set to release its fiscal third-quarter results after the market closes on Wednesday. Albemarle – Shares of the lithium supplier fell more than 6%, and the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT) shed more than 2%. Albemarle is the largest US supplier of lithium for electric vehicles. The stock has been under pressure this year, down about 44% in 2023, as consumers shy away from electric car purchases and inventory rises. Teva Pharmaceuticals – US-traded shares jumped 3.5% after UBS upgraded to buy from neutral. The company highlighted Teva’s strong brand pipeline and upcoming results from two major clinical trials. Xenon Pharmaceuticals — Shares soared more than 17% even after the company reported mixed top-line results from a study of its depression drug XEN1101. The Xenon study revealed that participants who received the treatment experienced a “clinically significant, but not statistically significant” reduction in their depression symptoms compared to those who received a placebo. E-commerce stocks – Strong Black Friday consumer buying numbers helped lift a slew of e-commerce gainers. An Adobe Analytics report showed that Black Friday shoppers spent a record $9.8 billion, an increase of 7.5% from a year ago. “Buy now, pay later” stock Affirm added more than 11%, while Shopify and Etsy added 5% and 3%. Domino’s Pizza — Shares of the pizza chain jumped 4.5%. TD Cowen raised its price target on Domino’s to $430 from $410 on Friday. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim, Sarah Min, Michelle Fox, Jesse Pound and Darla Mercado contributed reporting.
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