Market Updates: Key Movers in Midday Trading
In midday trading, several companies are capturing attention:
Better Homes and Finance Holdings – Mortgage lenders have experienced a notable surge, with hedge fund manager Eric Jackson’s recent social media post propelling them up by 176%.
Oracle – Shares of the software giant rose nearly 5% following the appointment of Clay Magouyrk as president of Oracle’s Cloud Infrastructure Business, alongside Mike Sicilia, president of Oracle Industries, both stepping in as chief executive officers. They will take over for Safracats, who is moving to a role as executive vice chair.
Molson Coors – The brewer’s stock decreased by 2% after announcing Rahul Goyal as the new CEO, replacing Gavin Hattersley, who’s set to retire this year.
Apple – Apple’s shares increased roughly 4% amid reports of strong first-week sales for the iPhone 17, driven by consumers eager to upgrade their older devices.
NVIDIA – The chipmaker’s shares climbed over 3% after unveiling plans to invest $100 billion in OpenAI.
Teradyne – Stocks soared by 10% after Susquehanna raised its price target from $133 to $200, citing Teradyne’s growing role in Taiwan Semiconductor’s GPU wafer sorting testing, which is not yet reflected in its stock price.
Coinbase and Strategy – Cryptocurrency-related stocks saw declines as Bitcoin prices dropped more than 2%. Coinbase fell by 3%, while Strategy, a Bitcoin Treasury Company, dropped over 2%.
Steven Madden – Shares of the shoemaker increased by 5% after receiving an upgrade from neutral to overweight by Piper Sandler, which highlighted potential margin gains due to tariff relief and faster inventory turnover.
Metsera and Pfizer – The weight-loss drugmaker’s stock skyrocketed over 60% after Pfizer announced its acquisition for $4.9 billion in cash, expected to finalize in the fourth quarter. Pfizer’s shares rose nearly 2% in response.
Real Estate, Compass – The broker giant Compass plans to expand by acquiring rivals like the parent companies of Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, with a corporate value projected around $10 billion, including debt. Compass shares surged over 50% despite a drop of more than 11% in another related stock.
Sarepta Therapeutics – The biotech company’s shares rose nearly 11% following an upgrade to outperform by BMO, which noted that the current assessment of SRPT presents attractive risk/reward benefits.
KENVUE – Shares for the makers of Tylenol fell by 7% after reports indicated that the Trump administration might announce links between painkillers used by pregnant women and autism.
Fox Corp. – In a recent interview, Donald Trump expressed his views about conservative media figure Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, the CEO of Fox. This resulted in a roughly 1% increase in Fox Corp.’s shares.
Applicable Materials – After an upgrade from Morgan Stanley, which shifted their rating from equal weight to overweight, the stock saw gains of over 3%. Analysts pointed out that chipmakers are currently trading at appealing valuations compared to their peers.
