Market Insider

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Dollar Tree, Gap, Affirm, Micron, Netflix and more

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People walk by a Dollar Tree store on December 11, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Dollar Tree — Dollar Tree surged 16% after the discount retailer announced plans to add price points above $1 across all Dollar Tree Plus stores and will begin testing price points above $1 in some legacy Dollar Tree stores. The company also increased its share repurchase authorization by $1.05 billion to a total of $2.5 billion.

Generac — The generator manufacturer saw its stock slide more than 6% after it issued new targets for 2024 at its Investor Day Wednesday morning. They include an adjusted earnings margin of 24%to 25% compared to FactSet estimates of 26.9%. It also repeated its full year 2021 guidance.

Lucid Motors — Shares of the electric car maker jumped more than 7% after the company said on Tuesday that it plans to deliver its first electric luxury sedans in late October. Lucid has kicked off production at its Arizona factory earlier this week.

Netflix — The streaming company rose 3.1% after announcing it bought videogame maker Night School Studio in an effort to diversify its revenue sources. KeyBanc also kept its overweight rating on the streaming giant and said Wednesday that the company’s content slate is resonating with subscribers.

Affirm — Shares of the financial services company lost over 1%. The decline comes despite Affirm’s announcement its investors day that it will offer a debit card and allow customers to execute cryptocurrency transactions directly from savings accounts.

Boeing — Boeing shares gained 3.3% after Bernstein upgraded the aircraft manufacturer stock to an outperform rating from market perform. Bernstein said Boeing is set to rally as vaccination rates grow around the world and global travel demand rebounds. The firm also hiked its price target on the stock to $279, nearly 30% higher than Tuesday’s close.

Eli Lilly — Shares of Eli Lilly rose 3.6% after Citi upgraded the pharmaceutical stock to a buy from neutral. The firm said Eli Lilly’s share price is attractive currently after pulling back from its August highs. Citi anticipates the launch of Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug will be a key driver of growth for the company. The bank also hiked its price target on the stock to $265, implying nearly 20% upside from Tuesday’s close.

Gap — Shares of Gap jumped more than 1% after the apparel retailer released the latest drop in its highly anticipated line with Kanye West’s Yeezy brand. The $90 hoodie became available for preorder online. Wells Fargo earlier this year estimated the Yeezy line could bring in nearly $1 billion in incremental sales in 2022.

AutoNation — AutoNation shares rose more than 4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to equal weight from underweight, saying the firm is bullish on the auto retailer’s management changes.

Conagra Brands — Shares of the packaged food company Conagra Brands rose more than 3% after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to neutral from underperform on Wednesday. Other consumer food companies climbed: Tyson Foods, Kraft Heinz, J. M. Smucker and Kellogg added more than 2%.

Micron Technology — Shares of the semiconductor company slipped 2% after it issued guidance for the first quarter of 2022 that was weaker than expected. Other semiconductor stocks fell too. NXP Semiconductors fell almost 4%, Microchip Technology lost more than 3% and Advanced Micro Devices lost 1.3%.

 — CNBC’s Hannah Miao, Maggie Fitzgerald and Yun Li contributed reporting

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