Lululemon, the popular athleisure clothing company, saw its stock price surge over 10% following the announcement from S & P Dow Jones Indices that it will be added to the prestigious S & P 500 on Wednesday. This development comes as Activision Blizzard’s stock is set to be replaced Lululemon following its acquisition Microsoft.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer experienced a rally in its stock price, with a 5% increase, after a buy upgrade from Jeffries. The firm sees this as an excellent buying opportunity as Pfizer recently revised its full-year guidance due to a decline in vaccine sales. However, this news had a negative impact on vaccine makers Moderna and BioNTech, with both companies experiencing drops of 4.7% and 5.4% respectively. Novavax also dropped 6%.
News Corp’s stock saw a 3% increase during midday trading as reports emerged that activist shareholder Starboard Value has acquired a stake in the company. It is expected that Starboard will recommend a spin-off of News Corp’s digital real estate division, according to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.
Shares of Alignment Healthcare soared 20% after receiving an upgrade to a strong buy rating from Raymond James. The firm highlighted the health-care company’s retention of its four-star Medicare rating, renewed focus on growth, and attractive valuation as key drivers for the upgrade.
Cybersecurity stock Varonis Systems experienced a 6.2% increase following an upgrade Morgan Stanley from equal weight to overweight. The firm believes that the company’s exposure to artificial intelligence will benefit its share prices.
English soccer club Manchester United faced a 6% drop in its shares after news broke that British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe made a bid of over $1.5 billion for a 25% stake in the company. This bid comes after Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani withdrew his offer to purchase the club from its current owners, the Glazer family.
Tal Education, an education technology company, saw a 7.2% increase in its stock price after UBS upgraded its shares to a buy rating. The upgrade was based on an attractive valuation and positive factors from Tal Education’s non-academic tutoring business.
Charles Schwab, the brokerage company, experienced a rise of more than 5% in its stock price after announcing better-than-expected earnings. Schwab surpassed the forecast earning 77 cents per share, higher than the expected 74 cents per share. However, the company did lower its full-year revenue outlook.
Lithium producer Albemarle observed a 2.7% increase in its shares after deciding to withdraw its offer to acquire Liontown Resources. Albemarle mentioned growing complexities related to the transaction as the reason behind this move.
Transportation services company Greenbrier saw its stock price increase almost 5% after receiving an upgrade to a positive rating from Susquehanna. Analyst Bascome Majors cited a strengthening backdrop for the railcar industry and the potential for higher margins as catalysts for “moderate upside” in Greenbrier.
On the other hand, sports and recreation company Vista Outdoor faced a significant decline of 24% in its stock price after releasing preliminary fiscal second-quarter results showing a year-over-year drop in sales due to challenging economic conditions. Vista Outdoor also lowered its full-year earnings and revenue guidance.
Healthcare solutions provider Henry Schein experienced a slight dip of almost 2% after announcing a cybersecurity incident over the weekend that impacted part of its manufacturing and distribution businesses.
The mentioned information was contributed CNBC reporters Yun Li, Fred Imbert, Hakyung Kim, Samantha Subin, Alex Harring, Pia Singh, and Lisa Han.