Global Courant
CAVA, on the New York Stock Exchange during its IPO on June 14, 2023.
Source: NYSE
Take a look at the companies that take the biggest steps in the afternoon.
Cava Group — Shares rose 99% in afternoon trading on their first day as a public company. Cava Group has priced its IPO at $22 per share and began trading at $42 per share on Thursday.
SkyWest — Aviation stocks rose 4.51% after being upgraded by Deutsche Bank to buy off hold. The Wall Street firm said it believes there will be a “significant improvement” in the company’s return on invested capital over the next two to three years. Deutsche Bank also increased Allegiant, which rose 1.4% during afternoon trading.
Domino’s Pizza — The pizza chain gained 6.46% after Stifel upgraded its stock to buy off hold. The company said delivery sales should stabilize further, while takeout sales will pick up in the next year.
Kroger — Stocks fell 2.69%. Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said on the company’s earnings call Thursday, “The economic climate is having a greater impact on our price-conscious shoppers.” The company reconfirmed identical sales, excluding fuel, and adjusted earnings per share guidance for the full year. Kroger also posted revenue slightly below Wall Street expectations. Revenue for the first quarter was $45.17 billion, compared to analysts’ forecast of $45.26 billion, according to FactSet.
Goal — Shares of the big-box retailer rose nearly 3.46% after Bernstein reiterated his outperform rating for the stock. The Wall Street firm said investors should buy the weakness in Target shares, which are down 15% over the past month.
lennar — Shares of the homebuilder rose 4.41% on Thursday. Lennar reported better-than-expected results for the fiscal second quarter on Wednesday night. The company said it generated $3.01 in earnings per share on $8.05 billion in revenue. Analysts had expected earnings per share of $2.33 on revenue of $7.22 billion, according to FactSet. The company’s revenues were boosted by profits from technology investments, but Lennar would still have beaten expectations without that upside. Lennar also raised the yearly outlook for home delivery.
SoFi technologies — Financial technology shares fell 1.95% after being downgraded by Oppenheimer to outperform. The Wall Street firm said it was bullish long-term, but believes its share price has risen much more than the broader market.
AutoZone — The stock rose 4.08% after the auto parts retailer authorized the repurchase of an additional $2 billion of the company’s common stock late Wednesday.
Corning — Shares rose 1.81% after Citi upgraded Corning to buy from neutral. The Wall Street firm also raised its price target from $36 to $40, suggesting an increase of more than 20% from Wednesday’s close. Citi said it has “greater conviction” in the glassmaker’s recovery potential.
John Wiley & Sons — Stocks fell about 11.39%. The company reported adjusted earnings per share for the fiscal fourth quarter of $1.45, up from $1.08 per share a year ago. However, sales fell to $526.1 million, compared to $545.7 million last year. Management also announced a restructuring plan, divesting its non-core education business.
Coin base — The stock recovered previous losses and closed 0.65% higher. Mizuho wondered if merchants were moving to Robinhood. Mizuho reiterated its underperform rating on the crypto platform in a note to clients.
Patterson-UTI Energy, NexTier Oilfield Solutions — The two companies agreed to merge in an all-stock deal with an enterprise value of $5.4 billion. Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy rose 12.13%, while NexTier Oilfield Solutions gained 6.73%
T Mobile – T-Mobile popped 3.68%. Morgan Stanley reinstated the telecommunications stock as a top pick, saying T-Mobile is well positioned to benefit from market volatility with a strong buyback program.
– Yun Li, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound and Sarah Min from CNBC contributed to the reporting.
