Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Johnson & Johnson — Shares of the pharmaceutical giant rose 2.5% after the company reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street’s expectations. The company posted an adjusted EPS of $2.59, versus $2.34 expected, according to Refinitiv. JNJ also reported $100 million in first-quarter sales of its Covid-19 vaccine that’s on hold in the U.S. while federal health regulators investigate a rare blood-clotting issue.
IBM — Shares of IBM jumped more than 4% to hit a new 52-week high after the company beat top and bottom line estimates during the first quarter. IBM earned $1.77 per share excluding items on $17.73 billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting $1.63 per share on $17.35 billion in revenue, according to estimates from Refinitiv. Strength in the cloud-computing division helped pushed quarterly sales growth to the best reading in more than two years.
Kansas City Southern — The railroad stock soared 16% in midday trading after Canadian National Railway offered to buy Kansas City Southern at $325 per share in cash and stock. That bid represented a higher offering compared to a prior $275 per share from Canadian Pacific.
United Airlines — United shares fell about 9% after the company said it lost $7.50 per share for the first quarter, larger than the loss of $7.08 that analysts were anticipating. The airline’s sales figures were also slightly softer than what analysts were expecting amid higher fuel costs and reduced demand from the Covid-19 pandemic. The stock is down 13% for the month.
Altria — The tobacco stock fell about 5% on the heels of a report from The Wall Street Journal that U.S. regulators are planning to limit the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. Shares of British-American Tobacco, which trades in London, fell more than 4%. Shares of Philip Morris bucked the trend, however, rising 2.8%.
AutoNation — Shares of the auto retailer dropped more than 3% in midday trading amid a broader market sell-off. The downtick came despite the company earning an adjusted $2.79 per share for its latest quarter, far above the consensus estimate of $1.87. Its sales figures topped estimates as well. Same-store sales were up 27% from a year earlier.
