Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading:
Boeing — Shares of Boeing slipped 1.3% after the aerospace company released internal messages that revealed its employees' efforts to manipulate regulators to approve the now-grounded 737 Max planes. The revelation presents a fresh crisis for Boeing, which has been struggling to regain public trust after the fatal crashes. Boeing said the messages were "completely unacceptable" and "do not reflect the company we are and need to be."
Urban Outfitters — Urban Outfitters stock fell more than 5% Friday after the retailer announced its holiday sales results. The company said increased promotional activity for its Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie businesses would "put greater pressure" on its profit margins for the quarter. The company's total sales rose 2.9% in November and December compared with the same period in 2018, but its comparable sales in physical retail stores declined.
Grubhub — Shares of Grubhub sank 6% after the food delivery company denied a Wall Street Journal report saying it was exploring a sale. Grubhub said there was "unequivocally no process in place to sell the company and there are currently no plans to do so." The stock surged more than 12% on Wednesday following the Journal's report.
Eli Lilly — Shares of Eli Lilly rose about 1.6% on Friday after the pharmaceutical company announced a deal to acquire Dermira, a fellow drugmaker focused on skin conditions. The all-cash deal is for $18.75 per share, or roughly $1.1 billion. The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the first quarter this year.
KB Home — KB Home shares fell more than 2% after the homebuilder posted mixed quarterly results. The company reported a profit of $1.31 per share, topping a Refinitiv estimate of $1.29 per share. KB Home's revenue, however, missed expectations at $1.56 billion. The company also issued a softer-than-forecast outlook for fiscal 2020.
L Brands — L Brands rallied nearly 3% in midday trading after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to a buy rating despite poor results at its Victoria's Secret business. Analyst Tiffany Kanaga argues that the brand's fourth-quarter sales were so bad that they, in fact, make it likely L Brands will try to split with Victoria's Secret in the near term to improve the company's overall performance. Such a split would represent a catalyst for better equity performance, she wrote.
– CNBC's Fred Imbert, Yun Li and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.