Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Duolingo — The online language app company popped 7.5% after JPMorgan reiterated its overweight rating on the stock, saying it has an attractive risk/reward and potential upside for its first-quarter guide and 2024 outlook. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — U.S.-traded shares of the Taiwanese chipmaker dropped 3.6% after the company noted that, although it did not experience structural damage, some wafers “had to be scrapped” after the earthquake in Taiwan earlier in April. Most of the lost production will be recovered in the second quarter, according to management. The company still beat revenue and profit expectations in the first quarter and forecasted healthy growth in 2024. JetBlue Airways — Shares jumped 6.6% after JPMorgan upgraded the airline to neutral from underperform, saying it likes its turnaround potential. Bitcoin miners – Shares of bitcoin mining companies rallied ahead of the widely anticipated “halving,” which cuts miners’ main stream of revenue in half , as mandated by the Bitcoin code. Marathon Digital rose more than 6%, Riot Platforms gained nearly 5%, and Iris Energy was up 8%. CleanSpark, which is one of the only miners still up for the year, rallied 13%. Estee Lauder — Deutsche Bank added a short-term buy rating on the cosmetics giant, sending shares 4.7% higher. The firm positively views the setup into Estee Lauder’s earnings, which are due May 1. Meta Platforms — The tech giant advanced more than 3% after striking a partnership with Google to include its search results in its new AI assistant, Meta Llama 3. Tesla — The electric vehicle manufacturer slid 2%, hitting its 52-week low, after Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner downgraded Tesla stock to hold from buy. Rosner pointed to a report from Reuters that said Tesla had canceled plans to build its inexpensive Model 2 car, which he said creates the risk of no new vehicle in Tesla’s consumer lineup for the foreseeable future and would put continued downward pressure on the company’s volume and pricing for many more years, lowering earnings. Barnes Group — The global industrial tech and aerospace stock jumped 9.3% after DA Davidson upgraded the company to buy from neutral, saying shares are attractive. Alaska Air Group — Shares of the airline jumped 5.8% on better-than-expected first-quarter results. Alaska Air’s loss per share of 92 cents ex-items was lower than an LSEG estimate of $1.05 per share. Revenue came in at $2.23 billion, beating analysts’ forecasts of $2.19 billion. Blackstone — The asset manager slipped 2.5% after lowering its dividend to 83 cents per share from 94 cents per share. Earnings in the first quarter came in at 98 cents per share, slightly higher than the LSEG consensus estimate of 96 cents per share. BJ’s Wholesale Club — Loop Capital downgraded BJ’s on valuation, sending the stock 4.4% lower. The firm lowered its estimates on the warehouse store company for merchandise same-store sales and gross margin. D.R. Horton — Shares added 2.3% after D.R. Horton exceeded expectations in its fiscal second quarter, posting earnings of $3.52 per share on revenue of $9.11 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG, meanwhile, expected the homebuilder to post earnings of $3.06 per share on revenue of $8.27 billion. eBay — The e-commerce stock rose 2% following a double upgrade at Morgan Stanley to overweight from underweight. The firm said eBay seems undervalued relative to its peer Etsy. Elevance Health — Shares jumped 3.8% after the health insurance company posted an earnings beat and raised its full-year guidance. Elevance’s revenue came out slightly below estimates, however. Zoom Video Communications — Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of the video conferencing company to buy from neutral, saying it is optimistic on Zoom’s “refocused” channel strategy and its healthy balance sheet. The stock rose 2.1% on the new rating. Trump Media & Technology Group — Shares of former President Donald Trump’s media firm and Truth Social parent company climbed more than 14%, adding to gains from a day earlier . Earlier in the week, the company announced plans to launch a TV streaming arm of Truth Social which sent shares lower. — CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Brian Evans, Hakyung Kim and Lisa Kailai Han contributed reporting.
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