Inside Virgin Galactic’s hangar at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Virgin Galactic — Shares of the space company sank more than 18% amid multiple pessimistic sell-side analyst notes. Both Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley downgraded the equity from overweight/outperform to equal weight/neutral. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote that the stock’s recent price surge over the last month means investors should be “waiting for the fundamentals to catch up.” Credit Suisse echoed that sentiment, saying the price had grown too frothy and that they are “no longer able to recommend SPCE shares” as such.
Tesla — Tesla dropped about 9% amid the broader market’s sell-off as investors ditched what Wall Street views as some of the market’s riskiest names. The stock, down more than 21% since Monday, came under pressure after Panasonic said it would end its partnership with Elon Musk’s electric-car company and stop producing solar panels with Tesla as soon as May. The announcement marked the latest rift between the two companies that have otherwise been partners in a broader push to sell electric cars.
Etsy — Shares of Etsy soared more than 11% after the e-commerce website reported earnings per share of 25 cents on revenue of $270 million, topping analysts’ expectations. Analysts forecast earnings per share of 16 cents on revenue of $265 million, according to Refinitiv. Etsy also issued full year revenue guidance above Wall Street’s estimates.
Box – Shares of Box surged 8% after the online storage software company reported better-than-expected earnings. Box beat estimates by 3 cents with adjusted quarterly profit of 7 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. The company also saw revenue beat estimates as demand for cloud services in general continues to accelerate.
Square – Shares of Square jumped 9% after the mobile payments technology company posted strong quarterly numbers. Square came in 2 cents ahead of estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 23 cents per share, according to Refitiniv. Square saw its user base numbers surge compared to a year earlier.
Anheuser-Busch InBev – Shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev tumbled more than 8% after the beer brewer said its current quarter profit would decline by about 10% due to the coronavirus. The company expects the coronavirus outbreak to significantly hit demand for its products in China.
Microsoft – Shares of Microsoft are down 3.5% after the tech giant said it did not expect to meet prior guidance for its personal computing segment, due to supply chain disruptions related to the coronavirus outbreak.
Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google — Shares of the so-call FAANG stocks were hit hard by the market sell-off. Shares of Apple tanked 4%, Facebook shares fell 1.4%. Amazon fell 2.5% and Google parent Alphabet tumbled 3.2%. Netflix shares bucked the broader market’s trend, gaining 2.3%
Airlines, hotels — Travel stocks took a beating on Thursday morning as companies and countries around the world issued travel restrictions and advisories. Among airlines, American Airlines dropped 4.8%, JetBlue fell 3.5% and Southwest Airlines slipped 2.3% and hit a new 52-week low. Royal Caribbean plunged 6.4%, while fellow cruise stocks Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines were down roughly 3%. MGM Resorts also lost 3%.
Marathon Petroleum — Shares of the energy company slid 6% as the sector came under pressure, dragged lower by falling oil prices. At the lows of the day, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell more than 5%, breaking below $46 to trade at its lowest level in 13 months. ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum were each down more than 4%, with EOG Resources, Pioneer Natural Resources and Devon Energy all shedding more than 3%.
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