A pedestrian walks past a display of Skechers shoes.<\/p>\n
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.<\/em><\/p>\n Skechers<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 The shoe company gained 2.6% after UBS reiterated<\/a> its buy rating on shares. UBS said Skechers’ brand and products “continue to resonate with global customers.”<\/p>\n Palantir Technologies<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 Shares of Palantir Technologies gained nearly 2% after the data analytics and software company won<\/a> a $250 million contract with the U.S. Army, working to develop artificial intelligence and machine-learning capabilities through 2026.<\/p>\n PepsiCo<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 The beverage giant gained 2.2% after posting a third-quarter earnings beat<\/a> on Tuesday. The company reported an adjusted $2.25 per share on $23.45 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by LSEG forecast earnings of $2.15 per share and revenue of $23.39 billion.<\/p>\n Solar companies \u2014 Shares of solar companies rallied Tuesday, putting the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> on pace for its best day since March 21. SolarEdge<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> added 4.5%, and First Solar<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> rose more than 5%. Sustainability-focused real estate investment trust Hannon\u00a0Armstrong<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> advanced 7%, bolstered by Baird saying the stock could have 81% upside<\/a>.<\/p>\n Electronic Arts<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 Shares of the video game publisher rose 3% after Bank of America upgraded<\/a> Electronic Arts to buy from neutral. The investment firm said that the rebrand of EA’s FIFA franchise is going well, creating upside for the stock.<\/p>\n Defense stocks \u2014 L3Harris Technologies<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> and Northrop Grumman<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> both pulled back about 1% Tuesday. The defense and aerospace companies rose Monday after the Israel-Hamas war began over the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rivian<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2013 Shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer rose more than 5% after UBS upgraded the stock to buy from neutral<\/a>. Analyst Joseph Spak said that a recent selloff has opened up an attractive entry point for investors.<\/p>\n Truist Financial<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 Shares jumped more than 6%. Late Monday, Semafor, citing people familiar, reported that Truist is in talks to sell its insurance brokerage business<\/a> to private equity firm Stone Point in a $10 billion deal.<\/p>\n Block<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2013 Shares added 5.5% after Bank of America reiterated its buy rating<\/a> on the payments stock. Analyst Jason Kupferberg cited the stock’s currently cheap valuation and strong fundamentals as catalysts for potential upside.<\/p>\n Akero Therapeutics<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 Shares of the biotech company tumbled 67% after its cirrhosis drug efruxifermin failed<\/a> to meet a primary benchmark during its Phase 2B study.<\/p>\n Unity Software<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 <\/a>The video game software company added 3.2%. Late Monday, the company announced that John Riccitiello is retiring as CEO<\/a> of Unity and will no longer be on its board. The move follows a controversial pricing change Unity announced in September. James Whitehurst will become Unity’s interim CEO.<\/p>\n Arm Holdings<\/a> \u2014 Shares added 2% a day after several bullish calls<\/a> on the stock. Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan were among the firms that initiated coverage of Arm Holdings with buy ratings Monday. The firms were positive on the semiconductor’s revenue growth.<\/p>\n