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Men wearing face masks walk past a Gap store at a shopping area, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China February 7, 2020.
Jason Lee | Reuters
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Gap, JCPenney, Nordstrom, L Brands, PVH, Dillard’s, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet — Retail stocks rose on hopes that a partial reopening of the economy will save the battered industry. Shares of Gap and JCPenney both surged more than 8%. Nordstrom and L Brands rose 2% and 7.8%, respectively. Apparel company PVH rose 3.5%. Dillard’s gained 6.6% and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet jumped 3.5%.
Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet — The so-called FANG stocks fell as investors appear to be rotating into the riskier bets on reopening the economy like retailers and out of the prior bull market’s leaders. Streaming giant Netflix fell nearly 3.5%. Amazon ticked 2.5% lower. Facebook and Google-parent Alphabet both fell about 1%
JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo — Shares of major U.S. banks rose on hopes that if the economy reopens faster-than-expected, banks will take fewer credit losses as borrowers catch up on payments. Shares of Bank of America jumped nearly 5%. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs both rose more than 2%. Citigroup jumped 4% and Wells Fargo gained about 3.5%.
Merck — Shares of Merck fell nearly 4% to become the biggest loser in the 30-stock Dow after the drug maker cut its 2020 forecast due to the uncertainties from the coronavirus pandemic. “The company has assumed the majority of the negative impact will be in the second quarter,” Merck said in a statement. The company did report sales of $12.1 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 11%, driven by strong growth in its cancer-fighting treatment Keytruda.
3M — Shares of multinational industrial conglomerate rose 2% in midday trading after it said a surge in sales in its personal safety equipment helped grow first-quarter revenues. 3M, which is the leading manufacturer of N95 respirator masks, said the Covid-19 outbreak forced it to double global mask output to 100 million per month since the beginning of 2020. It reported adjusted per-share earnings of $2.16 on sales of $8.08 billion, growth of 2.7% on a year-over-year basis.
Keurig Dr Pepper — Shares of the beverage company rose nearly 8% on Tuesday after reporting better-than-expected results for the first quarter. The company said its packaged beverages segment saw volume gains at the end of the quarter as consumers stocked up. The company reported 29 cents in adjusted earnings per share and $2.61 billion in revenue, above the 27 cents of earnings per share and $2.55 billion expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Keurig Dr Pepper also reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
Pepsico — Shares of the snack and beverage company gained 1.1% after reporting better-than-expected first quarter results but withdrawing full-year guidance. Pepsico earned $1.07 in adjusted earnings per share on $13.88 billion in revenue for the first quarter, as beverage volumes rose by 6%. Analysts surveyed by Refinitv expected $1.03 in earnings per share and $13.21 billion of revenue.
Harley-Davidson – Shares of the motorcycle maker jumped more than 11% following first quarter results. The company beat top- and bottom-line estimates, although profit dropped 45% year-over-year as worldwide lockdowns hit sales. The company also cut its dividend by two cents, and said it would suspend its share repurchase program.
Caterpillar – Shares of Caterpillar fell 1% after the industrial giant experienced a sales drop of 21% in the first quarter as the pandemic disrupted demand in the construction and mining sectors. Caterpillar reported revenues of $10.6 billion in the first quarter, compared with $13.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019. It also reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.60, versus $2.94 adjusted profit per share in the same quarter a year ago.
— With reporting from CNBC’s Yun Li, Jesse Pound, Pippa Stevens and Tom Franck.
