Market Insider

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Ulta, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, ChargePoint and more

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Fans gather at local Ulta Beauty in Houston to greet Kylie Jenner at the launch of her cosmetics line on November 18, 2018 in Houston, Texas.
Rick Kern | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Ulta — Shares of the cosmetics store dropped more than 5% after the company released long-term financial targets during its investor day. Some investors might be disappointed that Ulta didn’t issue guidance for full-year 2021. The stock is up more than 34% this year.

ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF — Shares of the long-awaited bitcoin ETF jumped about 2% in its trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. The fund tracks CME bitcoin futures, or contracts speculating on the future price of bitcoin, not the digital currency itself. It’s the first bitcoin-linked ETF to trade in the U.S.

Intuitive Surgical — The medical robotics company ticked about 3.5% higher in midday trading after releasing encouraging preliminary data from its ION platform’s peripheral lung nodule biopsies. ION is Intuitive’s FDA-approved, robotic-assisted platform for minimally-invasive lung biopsy.

Johnson & Johnson — Shares of Johnson & Johnson rose 3% after the company beat third-quarter earnings-per-share expectations by 25 cents per share. The pharmaceutical company said it sold $502 million of its Covid-19 vaccine in the third-quarter.

Virgin Galactic — Shares of the space company fell 0.5% in midday trading after Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Virgin Galactic to $17 from $25. Virgin Galactic last week announced it would delay its spaceflight tests to 2022.

Alibaba — Shares of the Chinese e-commerce giant popped 4.2% after the company announced it has developed a custom computer chip that it will use to power its data center servers. 

ChargePoint Holdings — The electric vehicle infrastructure company rallied more than 5% after Stifel initiated coverage of ChargePoint with a buy rating. The Wall Street firm said it sees positive free cash flow as early as 2024 for the electric vehicle infrastructure company.

Procter & Gamble — Shares of the consumer giant dipped roughly 1.5% after the company raised its forecast for commodity and freight costs for the remainder of the fiscal year amid persisting inflation. P&G reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $4.11 billion, or $1.61 per share, down from $4.28 billion, or $1.63 per share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting earnings per share of $1.59.

Travelers — The insurance stock rose more than 2% after a better-than-expected third-quarter report. Travelers earned $2.60 per share on $8.81 billion in revenue, boosted by a gain in net written premiums.

Walmart — Shares of the retail giant rose 1.6% after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its conviction buy list. Goldman said in a note to clients that Walmart’s investments in e-commerce and its supply chain should boost profits.

— with reporting from CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Hannah Miao, Tanaya Macheel and Yun Li.