Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading on Friday.
Newell Brands — Shares of Newell Brands climbed 4.6% on Friday morning after beating Wall Street estimates on the top and bottom lines for its fourth quarter. The consumer products conglomerate reported adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share and $2.624 billion in revenue. Analysts expected 39 cents in earnings per share and $2.578 billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv. The company also paid down $600 million of debt during the quarter.
Expedia — Expedia reported better-than-expected earnings for the previous quarter, sending the stock up more than 11%. The travel booking company posted a profit of $1.24 per share, topping a Refinitiv estimate of $1.19 per share. Expedia said its gross bookings grew by 8% in the fourth quarter.
Virgin Galactic — Shares of the space tourism company jumped 16% after the company relocated its spacecraft to its operating base in New Mexico from its development facility in California. The stock hit a new all-time high of more than $28 a share, with Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides telling CNBC that the company will now conduct final test flights, aiming to later this year fly founder Sir Richard Branson to space.
Nvidia — Nvidia shares jumped nearly 8% after the chipmaker reported quarterly results that topped analyst expectations. The company posted a profit of $1.89 per share on revenue of $3.11 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected earnings of $1.67 per share on sales of $2.97 billion. CEO Jensen Huang said "adoption of NVIDIA accelerated computing" drove the better-than-forecast results.
Kraft Heinz — Kraft Heinz fell 3.75% in midday trading after Fitch Ratings cut its credit rating to below investment grade. Just one more rating agency needs to downgrade Kraft Heinz credit to "junk" before index operators formally deem it below investment grade as a "fallen angel." Such a move would force many bond funds from holding the debt. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the top equity holder in Kraft with 325 million shares, or 27% of shares outstanding, as of its latest SEC filing.
Yelp — Yelp sank more than 7% on Friday after reporting fourth-quarter revenues, pre-tax earnings and profit per share all below Wall Street's expectations. Potentially underwhelming fiscal 2020 revenue guidance also sparked selling as Yelp's outlook for growth of 10–12% implies sales in a range between $1.12 billion and $1.14 billion versus consensus estimates of $1.14 billion.
Canopy Growth — The Canadian cannabis grower surprised investors to the upside with a smaller-than-expected loss of CA$0.35 for the third quarter. The stock rose more than 14% by noontime trading in New York as investors lauded 62% net revenue growth and an adjusted pre-tax earnings loss of CA$92 million, a $64 million narrower loss versus Q2 2020 and better than the CA$112 million loss analysts had expected.
Management highlighted the company's leading market share (22%) of the Canadian recreation market and strong demand for dried flower and pre-rolled joints. "In Q3 we executed across Canada, in our international markets and in our strategic acquisitions to drive revenue growth," said David Klein, the marijuana company's new chief executive.
– CNBC's Jesse Pound, Michael Sheetz and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.