Stock Market

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: GM, H&R Block, Citigroup and more

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GM CEO Mary Barra talks with media prior to the start of the 2017 General Motors Company Annual Meeting of Stockholders Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at GM Global Headquarters in Detroit, Michigan.
Photo by John F. Martin for GM

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

General Motors — GM shares added 1.3% after the company said it would increase spending on electric and autonomous vehicles to $35 billion through 2025. The new figure is 30% higher than plans announced late last year. “Across the board, we are seeing exceptionally strong reactions and positive response to all of our electric vehicles,” CEO Mary Barra told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

H&R Block — Shares of H&R Block sunk about 9% after the tax preparation company missed Wall Street’s fourth-quarter revenue expectations. On Tuesday, the company reported revenue of $2.33 billion, lower than analysts’ $2.35 billion estimate. However, H&R Block reported adjusted earnings of $5.16 per share, slightly higher than analysts’ $5.13 per share projection.

Citigroup — Citi shares slumped 3.8% after Bloomberg reported the bank warned of rising costs and slipping revenue. Chief financial officer Mark Mason said he expected second-quarter expenses to increase to somewhere between $11.2 billion and $11.6 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Oracle — Shares of the enterprise software maker dropped about 5% after the company offered lower quarterly revenue guidance than expected as it plans to increase capital expenditures to support cloud computing workloads. For its fiscal fourth quarter, Oracle posted earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ estimates, according to Refinitiv.

CarnivalRoyal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings — Cruise stocks gained after Wolfe Research upgraded the three major lines to outperform from peer perform. Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian each added more than 1% in midday trading.

Roblox — Shares of the video game company sank 7.5% in midday trading after showing a slowdown in user growth from the month prior. Roblox reported 43 million daily active users for May, up 28% compared to a year earlier but down from 43.3 million in April.

Kindred Biosciences — Shares of Kindred Biosciences soared 45.2% after the pet therapeutics company announced it would be acquired by Elanco Animal Health at a price of $9.25 per share, about $440 million. Kindred Biosciences said the selling price was a premium of 52% based on the 30-day average.

La-Z-Boy — La-Z-Boy shares slid 10% despite posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results. The furniture company reported adjusted earnings of 87 cents per share, beating analysts’ earnings expectations of 74 cents per share, according to FactSet. The company also reported revenue of $519.5 million compared with the Street’s $498.5 million projection.

Dish Network — Shares of the television company rose over 3% after Pivotal Research Group upgraded the stock to buy from hold. The firm said in a note to clients that it was bullish on Dish’s push into 5G wireless.

SoFi — Shares of the consumer finance startup rose more than 4% after Rosenblatt initiated coverage of the company as a top pick based on fintech’s promise to offer more services at lower costs. Earlier this week JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also lamented that the financial institution “could have” innovated the way fintech firms have but didn’t due to heftier regulatory requirements imposed on traditional banks. SoFi floated shares earlier this month in a SPAC offering.

Sunrun — Shares of the residential solar panels and home battery provider rose more than 12% after Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating of the stock. It also raised Sunrun’s price target on it from $86.00 to $91.00.

Maxar Technologies — The space stock surged more than 12% after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Maxar Technologies with a buy rating. The investment bank sees a 45% climb for shares in the next year.

Squarespace — Shares of Squarespace edged 3.2% higher after Mizuho initiated coverage of the company with a buy rating. “Squarespace offers a robust SaaS platform to build Website and Ecommerce sites that we believe is differentiated through aesthetic appeal, ease of use, and features to garner market share in the digital goods and services marketplace,” Mizuho’s Siti Panigrahi said in a note.

— CNBC’s Yun Li, Maggie Fitzgerald, Tanaya Macheel and Jesse Pound contributed reporting

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