A Boeing 737 MAX sits outside the hangar during a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington.
REUTERS/Matt Mills McKnight
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Regeneron — Shares of the biotechnology company jumped more than 15% after the company said it aims to have doses of a potential drug for COVID-19 ready to start human clinical trials by early summer. The antibody is believed to be a treatment for the virus, as well as a preventative drug.
Boeing — The aircraft manufacturer fell another 14% Tuesday, a day after it said it is in talks with the Trump administration about potential aid. Boeing said on Monday that it was seeking help from the White House for itself and others in its supply chain as the novel coronavirus whacks the travel industry. The price of Boeing equity is down 72% over the last six months between the recent selling and the fallout from two fatal crashes of its 737 Max aircraft.
Pfizer, BioNTech — The Germany-based BioNTech surged almost 61% after it said it’s teaming up with Pfizer to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Shares of Pfizer jumped more than 6%.
Clorox — The household cleaner company rallied more than 13% on Tuesday amid a growing number of cases of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. Clorox, which makes a variety of consumer sanitizing wipes and sprays, has seen its stock rally more than 30% over the last three months as investors reward what they expect are ballooning sales as governments and municipalities attempt to contain the disease’s spread.
Amazon — Shares of Amazon jumped 6.5% after the e-commerce giant said it plans to hire an additional 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers amid a surge in online orders due to the coronavirus outbreak. Amazon said earlier some brands in the “household staples” category were out of stock. Wedbush also added Amazon to its best idea list, saying it is a safe-haven during coronavirus.
McDonald’s — Shares of McDonald’s dropped nearly 6% after the fast food giant asked its U.S. franchisees to close their dining rooms as the company responds to the coronavirus outbreak. The company also plans to close the dining rooms in its company-owned locations in the U.S. Customer will only access the food and drinks from online orders and drive-through.
Nordstrom — Shares of the retailer gained more than 4% even as the company suspended its guidance and said it would close its U.S. stores in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The stock has lost more than 50% this year.
L Brands — Shares slid 28% after the company said it would temporarily close all stores. The retailer also suspended guidance on coronavirus-induced uncertainty, and said that it was drawing down $950 million from a credit line.
Tesla — Shares of Elon Musk’s automaker fell 3% as the company’s stock fell below $420, a level it surpassed just three months ago. The price level has become well-known for Tesla ever since Musk tweeted in August 2018 that he had “funding secured” to take the company private at that level.
PepsiCo — PepsiCo shares jumped more than 6% after an analyst at Evercore ISI upgraded the soda maker to outperform from in line. “We believe investors under-appreciate the firm’s relatively defensive business model vs the rest of the staples group,” the analyst said in a note.
Walmart — The retail giant’s shares soared by more than 10% on Tuesday after stock was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer. The firm said in a note that Walmart is still poised to meet its financial targets despite the economic damage from the coronavirus to the United States as consumers stock up on necessities.
Procter & Gamble — Shares of the consumer goods company rose 7.8% after the stock was upgraded to buy from hold by Deutsche Bank. The firm said in a note that the company’s supply chain has bounced back as China has gotten a greater handle on its coronavirus outbreak, and that it also stands to benefit from consumers in the U.S. buying more home products. The bank held its price target on the stock at $130 per share, about 20% above where it closed on Monday.
Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean — Shares of cruise lines continued to suffer as the coronavirus shuts down the travel industry. Carnival cratered 13%, Norwegian Cruise Line fell 5% and Royal Caribbean Cruises dropped 5%. Bank of America also downgraded Royal Caribbean to underperform from neutral.
—with reporting from CNBC’s Thomas Franck, Michael Sheetz, Yun Li, Pippa Stevens, Fred Imbert and Jesse Pound.