Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading on Thursday:
MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts, Penn National Gaming, Boyd Gaming, Las Vegas Sands — Casino stocks surged, led by a 43% gain from Boyd Gaming, as investors appear to see this week's sharp sell-off as a buying opportunity. Bank of America told clients in a note on Thursday that there are widespread buying opportunities among casino companies. Several of the casino stocks have declined this week, with shares of MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts each down more than 30%, after Nevada on Tuesday shut down all 440 casinos in the state for at least 30 days.
Red Robin, Starbucks, Chipotle, Papa John's, Domino's — Stock of select restaurant companies spiked on Thursday as investors continued to reward companies that can tailor services to consumers stuck at home due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Red Robin soared 26%, Starbucks jumped 9%, Chipotle rose 15%, Papa John's climbed 39% and Domino's rallied 11%. Companies like pizza-maker Domino's are seeing a surge in demand for their food and delivery services as Americans order food and beverages from home. Domino's CEO Ritch Allison said in a statement on Thursday that he expects to hire some 10,000 delivery drivers, pizza makers, customer service representatives and others amid the deluge of orders.
Noble Energy, Apache, Williams, Schlumberger — Energy stocks rose broadly, boosted by a massive surge in oil prices. Noble Energy rallied 30% while Apache gained 11%. Williams and Schlumberger climbed 17% and 15%, respectively. U.S. crude futures jumped 18% to $24.06 per barrel after posting their third-worst decline on record a day earlier.
Tesla, Uber, Lyft — Tech transportation stocks took a big jump on Thursday after Uber's CEO said the company had the cash to withstand a dramatic drop in demand. Shares of Uber rose 38%, while rival Lyft gained about 28%. Electric automaker Tesla gained 18% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to equal weight from underweight.
Ford, Harley Davidson — Legacy auto and transportation stocks took a hit on Thursday as the coronavirus pandemic leads to production shutdowns. Harley Davidson fell 7%, while Ford lost 0.7%. Both companies announced Wednesday that they are pausing production at plants in the United States. Ford has also paused production at other plants in North America and Europe.
Dish Network, Vonage, Comcast and AT&T — Communications stocks largely rallied as Dish Network, Vonage and Comcast rose 16%, 10% and 1%, respectively. Analysts highlighted the telecom and internet service providers as likely to benefit from an increase in consumer demand. But AT&T fell 5%, as the company is closing thousands of its retail stores around the nation.
Qualcomm, Broadcom, Skyworks Solutions — Semiconductor stocks climbed overall, with Qualcomm shares jumping 6% after CEO Steve Mollenkopf told CNBC that demand in China had returned to normal. Broadcom and Skyworks Solutions, two other semiconductor builders, followed Qualcomm higher. Broadcom traded 15% higher while Skyworks gained 7%.
FedEx — The package delivery giant reported fiscal third-quarter revenue that beat analyst expectations, sending the stock up 12%. FedEx reported sales of $17.5 billion for the previous quarter, topping a FactSet estimate of $16.89 billion. The company, however, suspended its fiscal 2020 earnings forecast, citing uncertainty caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Emerson Electric — Shares of the manufacturing company jumped 12% on news Emerson will buy back 60 million shares, or about 9.7% of its shares outstanding.
— CNBC's Fred Imbert, Jesse Pound, Tom Franck contributed to this report.
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