Tesla, Nuance Communications, Uber and more

Check out the companies that are making headlines during afternoon trading.

Tesla – Tesla’s stock fell nearly 3% after Canaccord Genuity upgraded the stock to buy, citing Tesla’s battery innovations. Canaccord also raised its 12-month price target on Tesla from $ 419 per share to $ 1,071 per share. The new target implies a rally of almost 60% for the electric car manufacturer.

Nuance Communications – Nuance’s stock price rose more than 16% during afternoon trading after Microsoft announced it will buy the speech recognition company at $ 56 a share, about 23% higher than where the stock closed on Friday. The deal, another sign that Microsoft is looking to grow through acquisitions, is estimated at about $ 16 billion and about $ 19 billion including debt.

Uber – The giant giant’s share was up 3.3% after posting record gross bookings in the month of March. Uber said its mobility segment, or ride-hailing company, has put in its best month since March 2020, with an annual run rate of $ 30 billion. That was 9% more than a month earlier.

Alibaba – US-traded shares of the Chinese internet giant rose more than 9% after Chinese regulators fined the company $ 2.8 billion. The fine amounts to approximately 4% of Alibaba’s sales in 2019. The action is part of a broader scrutiny of internet companies by Chinese regulators.

United Airlines – Shares of the airline fell 4% after United Airlines announced it was expected to report $ 3.2 billion in revenue for the first quarter, down 66% from the same quarter in 2019. According to FactSet Wall Street analysts expected $ 3.35 billion.

Chipotle – The chain restaurant’s stock price rose more than 1% after Raymond James upgraded the stock to outperform the market performance. Wall Street firm said that the sale of Chipotle has participated fully in the stronger industry trends over the past weeks of tour, adding that stock prices are “significantly upward.” CNBC’s Jim Cramer said the stock is still a buy even if it hits an all-time high.

Qualcomm – Chip inventory fell 1.6% after Evercore ISI downgraded the company to in-line outperformance. Evercore said that after Qualcomm’s triple run since the Apple settlement, the lion’s share of the 5G smartphone upcycle is priced in stock. Qualcomm and Apple settled a royalty and patent dispute in April 2019.

Plug Power – Morgan Stanley resumed the company’s coverage of hydrogen fuel cells as equal weight, dropping its stock by more than 8% during afternoon trading. Wall Street firm said it sees “modest” share price rise for Plug Power.

– with reporting from CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Yun Li and Tom Franck.