Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Clover, Under Armour, Ford and more

Finance

The Ford company logo is displayed on a sign outside of the Chicago Assembly Plant on February 03, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images

Clover Health Investments — Shares of the health care company jumped about 8%, pushing its weekly gains over 13% as Reddit-fueled speculative trading in the name continued. Clover said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week that a large proportion of its stock has been in the past and may be traded in the future by short sellers, which may increase the likelihood that it will be the target of a short squeeze.

Xpeng — The U.S.-listed Chinese electric carmaker’s stock is up 5% after it received the green light from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to carry out an initial public offering there. The IPO could raise between $1 billion to $2 billion.

Under Armour — Shares of the athletic apparel company rose about 3% in midday trading after investment firm Cowen named Under Armour one of its best ideas. Analyst John Kernan told clients that they should take advantage of the stock’s recent weakness and bet that Under Armour’s management will be able to top earnings and revenue expectations.

MicroStrategy — Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy’s stock traded more than 4% higher as the price of bitcoin rose 8% over $33,400 Wednesday. The company took advantage of the recent price drop to buy more bitcoin and it now holds more than 100,000 units of the digital currency, worth more than $3 billion, on its balance sheet.

Coinbase — Shares of the cryptocurrency exchange popped more than 2% midday, also in tandem with the bitcoin rebound. Coinbase’s business is closely tied to the price of bitcoin and ether, though that may change in the future as it expands. Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood also purchased 214,718 shares of Coinbase in her flagship fund ARK Innovation fund on Tuesday, worth about $47.8 million based on the exchange’s closing price of $222.47 per share.

Winnebago — The RV company saw its stock fall less than 1% despite reporting strong results Wednesday morning for its fiscal third quarter. As the economy continues to reopen, outdoor lifestyle stocks that thrived in the pandemic are slipping now. Similar stocks like Thor and Brunswick are similarly trending down.

Ford — Shares of Ford gained more than 3%. The automaker announced that its Mustang Mach-E GT and Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition electric vehicles surpassed their target Environmental Protection Agency-estimated range. Barclays on Tuesday raised Ford’s price target to $17 per share from $15 on Tuesday and reiterated its “overweight” rating on the automaker.

Occidental, Devon, Diamondback — Energy stocks rose broadly on Wednesday as European benchmark Brent crude rose above $75 per barrel. Shares of Occidental Petroleum jumped more than 4%, while Devon Energy and Diamondback Energy added about 2.9% and 2.6%, respectively.

 — CNBC’s Margaret Fitzgerald, Hannah Miao, Jesse Pound and Tom Franck contributed reporting

Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro
Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV. 
Sign up to start a free trial today