A worker with Apache Corp. is viewed at the Patterson 298 natural gas fueled drilling rig on land in the Permian Basin on February 5, 2015 in Mentone, Texas.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Apache — Shares of the oil exploration and production company surged more than 23% after announcing a major oil discovery at its offshore Suriname facility. It is a joint venture with France’s Total S.A., in which each company holds a 50% ownership of the 1.4 million acre site.
Micron, Western Digital — Micron and Western Digital shares jumped more than 6% each after an analyst at Cowen upgraded them to outperform from market perform. The analyst said the stocks should benefit from improving trends in the memory chip market.
Square — Shares of Square spiked 4.5% after Bank of America upgraded the payments company to buy from neutral. Bank of America’s analyst said the stock’s relatively weak performance in 2019 made it an attractive buy and that the company’s guidance was conservative, specifically for the segment that includes Cash App. Bank of America also raised its price target on the stock to $75 per share from $70, reflecting nearly a 20% upside from where the stock closed on Monday.
Zynga — Gaming stock Zynga rose 2.8% in early trading on Tuesday after SunTrust initiated coverage of the company with a buy rating and a $7.50 per share price target. Analysts forecast revenue for the mobile gaming company to grow by 13% annually over the next two years. SunTrust noted that Zynga also has games based on Harry Potter and Star Wars in development. The price target is a 16.7% premium to where shares closed on Monday.
Tesla — Shares of Telsa rose 2% to an all time high on Tuesday after Credit Suisse significantly raised it price target on the stock to $340 a share from $200 a share. Despite the price target hike, the firm’s new expectation still represents a nearly 25% stock drop for Elon Musk’s company from the current levels. The stock last traded around $460.4 per share.
Boeing — Shares of Boeing rose 2% after the aircraft maker and American Airlines reached a settlement over damages incurred due to the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max jet. American said more than $30 million of the compensation will be contributed to the employee profit-sharing program.
Kellogg — Shares of Kellogg jumped 2% following an upgrade to outperform from neutral from Credit Suisse. The firm said Kellogg’s investments and portfolio changes have “set the stage” for sustainable revenue growth and margin expansion.
FireEye — SunTrust upgraded the cyber security company to buy from hold, sending shares of FireEye up more than 3%. The firm said the situation in Iran and Iraq will lead to increased spending in the government and private sector for cyber security.
CXS Corp. — Shares of CSX rose more than 1% after Susquehanna upgraded the railroad company to positive from neutral and named it a “top value pick.” The research firm grew bullish on CSX after 2019 underperformance and its low valuation.
— CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Pippa Stevens, Yun Li and Fred Imbert contributed reporting.