Check out the companies making the biggest moves at noon. Apple — Shares of the iPad maker rose 3.26%, leading the rebound on the Nasdaq Composite. The gains came after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the Apple acquisition from neutral. The bank cited Apple’s improved monetization of its customer installed base, which has strengthened its multi-year iPhone upgrade cycle and driven higher growth in services. Humana — Shares fell 7.99% after the health insurer said in a report that fourth-quarter medical costs were higher than expected, which could also weigh on the company’s 2024 outlook. Humana also said it believes new trends are having a broader impact on the industry. UnitedHealth stock fell nearly 3%, and CVS Health also fell about 5%. MDC Holdings — The home builder soared 18.37% after Japanese home builder Sekisui House reached a $4.95 billion agreement to acquire MDC. Sekisui House will pay $63 per share in cash, nearly 19% above MDC’s closing price on Wednesday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. — The semiconductor company’s U.S.-listed shares soared 9.79% after reporting better fourth-quarter profits and sales. Taiwan Semiconductor also said it expects 2024 to be a “year of healthy growth.” Shares of some of the company’s major customers also rose, with Nvidia, Apple, Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices each rising at least 2%. Hertz — Shares rose 7.54% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight. The investment bank said the rental car company’s decision to sell about 20,000 electric cars from its fleet should help boost its stock price. Spirit Airlines — Shares fell another 7.17% as the impact of the low-cost carrier’s blocked merger proposal with JetBlue continued to weigh on the stock. Spirit plunged 60% in the first three trading days of the week, but was downgraded from neutral to sell by Citi on Thursday. Fastenal — Shares rose 7.18% after the distribution giant beat Wall Street expectations in the fourth quarter. Fastenal had revenue of $1.76 billion and earnings of 46 cents per share, compared to analysts’ expectations compiled by Street Accounts for revenue of 45 cents per share and revenue of $1.75 billion. Fastenal said sales were boosted by local growth and currency tailwinds. First Horizon — Local bank added 5.06% after First Horizon beat earnings estimates in the fourth quarter. Adjusted earnings per share were 32 cents, compared with the 27 cents expected by analysts surveyed by StreetAccount. Net interest income and net interest margin also exceeded expectations. Discover Financial Services — Shares fell 10.8% after the financial services company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.54 after the market Wednesday. According to LSEG (formerly Refinitiv), the price was lower than the expected price of $2.50. BIRKENSTOCK — The German shoe company fell 7.72% after it warned full-year earnings would be under pressure as it seeks to expand globally. This was Birkenstock’s first financial report as a publicly traded company. KeyCorp — The Cleveland-based bank fell 4.62% after reporting fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 3 cents, down from 38 cents a year earlier. Net interest income also decreased year-over-year, from $1.2 billion to $928 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. Microchip Technology — This technology maker gained 3.38% after being upgraded to Outperform its peers by Wolfe Research. The company said a number of things have been done to de-risk the stock heading into its third quarter earnings report. Plug Power — Shares of the struggling fuel cell company fell 11.52% after Morgan Stanley maintained its Underweight rating and $3 price target. Morgan Stanley said Plug will need to tap into a significant portion of its $1 billion mark-to-market equity program announced after the market closed on Thursday. Grab Holdings — Shares rose 2.74% after JPMorgan upgraded the Singapore-based ride-hailing and food delivery app to overweight. As a catalyst for the upgrade, the bank highlighted attractive valuations and improved delivery margins. Kinder Morgan — Kinder Morgan stock rose as the natural gas pipeline operator reported fourth-quarter revenue of $4.04 billion, below LSEG’s consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. He fell 1.42%. —CNBC’s Lisa Han, Samantha Subin, Alex Harring, Yun Li, Pia Xin and Sara Ming contributed reporting.
APPL, HUM, TSM, BIRK etc.
