A sign is posted in front of a Wendy’s restaurant on August 10, 2022 in Petaluma, California.
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Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
JPMorgan – Shares of the biggest U.S. bank by assets rose more than 2% after the firm posted fourth-quarter profit and revenue that topped expectations. The New York-based bank said profit jumped 6% from the year earlier period to $11.01 billion, or $3.57 per share. Interest income at the bank surged 48% on higher rates and loan growth.
Citigroup — Citigroup’s stock added 1.7% as the company reported a record fourth quarter for fixed income. The bank said net income decreased during the period by more than 21% over last year as it set aside more money for potential credit losses.
Delta Air Lines — The airline stock edged 3.5% lower after the company said in its outlook that higher labor costs would hurt its first-quarter profits. Delta topped analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter.
Wendy’s — The fast-food chain’s stock added 6% after Wendy’s shared positive preliminary fourth-quarter results and announced a handful of reshuffles within its corporate structure. A regulatory filing also indicated that Nelson Peltz does not want to take over Wendy’s.
Wells Fargo – The bank stock added 3.2% even after the firm reported shrinking profits, weighed down by a recent settlement and the need to build up reserves amid a deteriorating economy. Wells Fargo’s net income tumbled 50% to $2.86 billion from $5.75 billion a year ago. The bank set aside $957 million for credit losses after reducing its provisions by $452 million a year ago.
Bank of America —The financial stock rose less than 1% on Friday after Bank of America beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter. A sharp rise in net interest income helped the results, though management cautioned that the metric could decline sequentially in the first quarter. CEO Brian Moynihan also said that a mild recession was the firm’s baseline assumption for 2023.
Virgin Galactic Holdings — The space tourism company jumped 12.3% after it said it was on track for a commercial launch in the second quarter of 2023. The company also announced its president of aerospace systems, Swami Iyer, was leaving.
Tesla — Shares of the electric-vehicle maker shed about 1% after being downgraded to sell from neutral by Guggenheim and cutting prices on its vehicles in the U.S. and Europe. In its downgrade, Guggenheim cited concerns with Tesla’s fourth-quarter estimates.
Bank of New York Mellon — Shares of the mid-sized bank rose 1.8% on Friday after the company reported net income of $509 million for the fourth quarter. That was down 38% year over year but up about 60% from the third quarter. That profit rose to $1.1 billion, or $1.30 per share, when excluding certain items, but it is unclear if those results were comparable to analysts’ estimates.
UnitedHealth — The health-care stock advanced closed over 1% lower after the company surpassed Wall Street’s fourth-quarter expectations. UnitedHealth reported adjusted earnings of $5.34 a share on $82.8 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected earnings of $5.17 per share on revenues of $82.59 billion.
Lockheed Martin — The defense stock slipped 2.6% after Goldman Sachs downgraded shares to sell from a neutral rating. The firm said shares could fall if the government trims defense spending. Northrop Grumman shares also dove 5.4% on Goldman’s downgrade to a sell from neutral rating.
Salesforce — The software stock closed flat following a downgrade to neutral from overweight by Atlantic Equities. The firm said the stock would likely be hurt by executive departures and slowed growth.
Logitech — Shares of the consumer electronics company dipped 3.4% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the shares to a hold from a buy rating. The decline built on Thursday’s losses after reporting preliminary results that signaled slowing sales and earnings.
Warner Music Group – Shares of Warner Music Group shed 5.4% after Guggenheim cut its rating on the stock to neutral from buy and trimmed its price target to $35 from $38, citing worries about revenue from the music streaming service.
Copa — Shares of the Latin American airline jumped 6.4% following an upgrade to overweight from a neutral rating by analysts at JPMorgan. The bank said shares could rally 50% as air travels resurges.
AutoNation — AutoNation’s stock fell 4.7% as Wells Fargo downgraded the automotive retailer to equal weight from an overweight rating, saying that its valuation looks “reasonable” and estimates look too high.
— CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Yun Li, Michelle Fox, Alex Harring and Carmen Reinicke contributed reporting
