Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Tesla — Tesla surged nearly 9% after the electric vehicle company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter deliveries. The Elon Musk-led company delivered 443,956 vehicles, while analysts polled by StreetAccount expected deliveries of 439,000. The figure showed a 4.8% decline from a year ago but was 14.8% above first-quarter numbers. Polestar — The EV manufacturer tumbled 7% after its first-quarter loss widened to $274.3 million from $37.7 million a year ago. Polestar reported an 80% increase in car deliveries in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the first. Paramount Global — Shares of the owner of CBS and MTV rose 3% after CNBC reported that it was in talks with several companies concerning a potential merger of its Paramount+ streaming service. Warner Bros. Discovery is one of the companies that has expressed interest in reaching a deal that would combine Paramount+ with Max, according to people familiar with the matter. Warner Bros. Discovery rose about 1.4%. Pure Storage — The data storage stock tumbled 5.4% on the back of a UBS downgrade to sell from neutral. UBS said the company has an unfavorable risk-to-reward ratio. Eli Lilly , Novo Nordisk — Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk both shed about 2% after President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders said the drugmakers were charging “unconscionably high prices” for their weight loss and diabetes drugs, and called on them to lower costs in an op-ed published in USA Today. Incyte — Shares of the biopharmaceutical company moved 2.2% lower after a BMO Capital Markets downgrade to underperform from market perform, lowering its price target to $48 from $52. BMO cited factors such as the company’s decision to buy back up to $2 billion of its common stock. Lennar — The homebuilder fell 2.5% after downgrades by Citi and Raymond James . Citi cited broader housing market weakness as a reason to back off Lennar. CrowdStrike Holdings — The cybersecurity company fell 2% on a Piper Sandler downgrade to neutral from overweight. The broker cited high valuations and a lack of a near-term catalyst. Chewy — The pet retailer’s shares fell another 4%, bringing the week-to-date loss to 10%. The volatile trading this week was partly triggered by meme stock trader “Roaring Kitty,” who disclosed a 6.6% stake in the company. Chewy’s share price has also been affected by sales of stock from the private equity firm BC Partners, its largest shareholder. PayPal — The financial technology stock advanced 1.8% on the heels of an upgrade by Susquehanna to positive from neutral. The firm noted that PayPal has made profitable growth a top priority. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim, Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Jesse Pound and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
Source: www.cnbc.com