Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Fiat Chrysler, Alphabet, Applied Materials & more
Check out the companies making headlines midday Wednesday:
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor, General Motors — Shares of the companies got a boost on news that the White House plans to hold off on slapping tariffs on autos by six months. These tariffs are seen by President Donald Trump as leverage in trade negotiations with Europe and Japan. Fiat gained 1.9% while Ford and GM rose 1.2% and 0.9%, respectively.
Alibaba — Alibaba ticked 1.6% higher in midday trading following strong results reported before the bell Wednesday. The company reported its cloud business grew by 76% in the period, boosting its overall results.
Alphabet — Alphabet rose 4.1% after Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the stock to $1,400 from $1,300. Deutsche Bank said Google's parent company has one of the best ad product pipelines, making the bank more confident in Alphabet's 2020 outlook.
Zillow Group — Shares of Zillow jumped 4.5% after Guggenheim upgraded the company to buy from neutral. Guggenheim cited strength in the company's Offers business, which lets homeowners sell their houses.
Applied Materials — The chipmaker's stock rose 3.7% after an analyst at Susquehanna upgraded it to positive from neutral. The analyst said Applied Materials had secured "major memory wins."
JD.com — The Chinese e-commerce company's stock rose 2.6% after an analyst at Nomura Instinet upgraded it to buy from neutral. The analyst cited a more positive margins outlook for JD.com.
Boeing — The aerospace giant's stock rose 0.8% after the Federal Aviation Administration said it expects the company to submit its 737 Max software fix in "the next week or so."
Macy's — The stock popped as much as 4% after the retailer reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, but it later fell 0.5% after the company warned it could see impact from the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. Macy's reported earnings per share of 44 cents on revenue of $5.504 billion. Wall Street was expecting earnings per share of 33 cents on revenue of $5.505 billion, according to Refinitiv. Same-store sales, a key metric for retailers, also surpassed analyst expectations.
Salvatore Ferragamo — Salvatore Ferragamo surged 9.2% after the Italian luxury fashion company reported strong first-quarter sales. The company announced a 17.7% increase in revenues from retail channels in China. The company also reported net profit of 11 million euros.
—CNBC's Nadine El-Bawab and Maggie Fitzgerald contributed to this report.