Several companies made headlines in midday trading, starting with Novavax, which saw its stock soar nearly 99% after announcing a multibillion-dollar deal with French drugmaker Sanofi to co-commercialize its Covid vaccine next year. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing also had a good day, jumping 4.5% after reporting a 60% surge in year-over-year April revenues, driven by ongoing demand for artificial intelligence. Sweetgreen saw a 34% increase in its stock price after surpassing first-quarter revenue expectations, posting revenue of $158 million and raising its full-year guidance for revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
Unity Software, however, experienced a 10% decline in its stock price after posting a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss of 75 cents per share. The company’s adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter is expected to range between $75 million and $80 million, lower than the consensus estimate of $98 million. Akamai Technologies also saw its stock price drop 11% due to a weak outlook and mixed quarterly results, with the company expecting revenue for the year to range between $3.95 billion and $4.02 billion, below analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. On the other hand, Array Technologies advanced 2% on better-than-expected quarterly results, with first-quarter adjusted earnings coming in at 6 cents per share on revenue of $153.4 million.
Victoria’s Secret reported better-than-expected preliminary first-quarter results and reaffirmed its guidance, causing its shares to rise more than 5%. The company now expects adjusted earnings to range between 7 cents and 12 cents per share, compared to prior guidance of a loss of 15 cents to earnings of 10 cents per share. Yelp, however, saw its shares dip close to 7% after providing a weak second-quarter revenue forecast, despite delivering solid first-quarter earnings performance. Natera’s stock popped 10% after posting a first-quarter loss of 56 cents per share and revenue of $367.7 million, beating analysts’ expectations for a loss of 71 cents per share and $316.3 million in revenue.
Gen Digital experienced a 15% jump in its stock price on strong quarterly results, reporting adjusted earnings of 53 cents per share for the fiscal fourth quarter on revenue totaling $967 million. The company also increased its share repurchase program to $3 billion. Insulet, a medical device stock, slipped 6.6% as higher marketing expenses impacted first-quarter profits and the company expects full-year revenue growth to range between 14% and 18% in 2024. Dropbox finished flat after reporting strong first-quarter results, surpassing estimates on the top and bottom lines with adjusted earnings of 58 cents per share on $631 million in revenue. Cheesecake Factory saw its shares climb 4.4% after Citi upgraded the restaurant chain stock to buy due to an “increasingly de-risked unit growth outlook.”
JFrog slid 18.7% after reporting that the first quarter was a period of “digestion,” with customers delaying project spend towards later quarters. The company posted adjusted earnings of 16 cents per share on revenue of $100 million, beating LSEG consensus estimates. Mettler-Toledo, a manufacturer of lab instruments, jumped 14% after posting first-quarter adjusted earnings of $8.89 per share on revenue of $925.9 million, exceeding analysts’ expectations. Overall, the midday trading session saw a mix of positive and negative performances among various companies, reflecting the ongoing volatility and uncertainty in the market.
