A Virgin Galactic logo can be seen outside the building during the company’s first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 28, 2019 in New York City.
JOHANNES EISELE | AFP | Getty images
Check out the companies that are making headlines during afternoon trading.
Virgin Galactic Shares of the aerospace company fell 14% after a filing revealed that Chairman Chamath Palihapitya sold his personal holdings of 6.2 million shares for approximately $ 213 million. He still owns 15.8 million shares with investment partner Ian Osborne. Palihapitiya said in a statement to CNBC that he plans to redirect sales “in a major investment I am making in the fight against climate change.”
Ark Innovation – Shares in Cathie Wood’s flagship ETF fell more than 6% as rising interest rates put pressure on innovation stocks. The top positions of the funds were all in the red. Shares of Tesla were down 7%, Square and Roku both lost 6%, and Baidu was down 8%. CRISPR Therapeutics was down nearly 10% and Shopify retreated 7.5%.
Big Lots – Retail inventory fell more than 3% after fourth quarter comparable store sales, mixed expectations. The company reported comparable store sales growth of 7.9%, ahead of the 8.4% analysts predict, according to FactSet. The company did not provide annual guidance, citing uncertainty about the pandemic and government stimulus packages. Earnings per share exceeded expectations, based on estimates prepared by Refinitiv.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings – Shares of Norwegian were down 14%, underperforming other cruise names struggling after the company announced a new share offering. The company sells approximately 47.6 million shares for $ 30 per share. Norwegian said it plans to use the funds to buy back debt.
Cisco Systems – Shares of Cisco Systems were up more than 3% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock from neutral to overweight. “We are upgrading CSCO stock to Overweight through a combination of anticipating the expected recovery in Enterprise IT spending, the transformation to subscriptions on track and still inexpensive valuation after underperforming against peers,” the company said.
Nikola – Shares of the electric truck manufacturer fell more than 7% after JPMorgan cut its stock from overweight to neutral. The Wall Street firm said the “good news” is all the prices in Nikola’s shares.
Gap – Shares of the apparel retailer were up more than 6% after the company said it predicts a rebound in sales growth in 2021 as more consumers return to the stores. Gap reported fourth-quarter sales below estimates during the pandemic, but it made a profit, thanks to its efforts to sell more goods at full price and the progress it made in closing underperforming stores.
Oracle – Tech shares are up 7% after Barclays upgraded the company to overweight of equal weight, saying it sees “accelerating growth” that will drive “multiple expansion.” Barclays cited “an improving cloud mix and a better IT spending environment” as factors driving Oracle’s share higher.
Hibbett Sports – The sports seller’s inventory was down more than 5% due to mixed results in the fourth quarter. The company recorded earnings per share of $ 1.40 on sales of $ 367.8 million. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings per share of $ 1.37 on revenues of $ 380.9 million. However, Hibbett praised a record year for 2020, partly thanks to a strong increase in online sales.
IMAX Corp. – Imax shares rose 11% after the company said it expects better results this year with consumers returning to the cinema. The jump comes despite the theater operator reporting mixed fourth-quarter results, with the company’s losses per share exceeding a Refinitiv estimate. However, Imax also posted better than expected sales for the quarter.
– with reports from CNBC’s Yun Li, Jesse Pound and Rich Mendez.