The Spotify logo on a smartphone arranged in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Wayfair — Shares of the furniture retailer jumped 24.1% on Monday after Wayfair received upgrades from multiple Wall Street firms, include a double upgrade to overweight from underweight at JPMorgan. The company announced on Friday that it would lay off about 10% of its global workforce as part of a cost-cutting plan. JPMorgan cited Wayfair management’s “newfound commitment to controlling expenses” in its upgrade note.
Apple – Apple shares rose 3.2%, as China’s reopening gave hope to investors that it would give the tech and electronics business a lift. Morgan Stanley called the stock a top pick, saying the reopening has “important implications” for demand as well as supply.
Meta — Shares of Meta climbed 2.4% after Citi reiterated its buy rating on the social media company, saying that while there’s limited macro visibility, they believe the market is stabilizing.
Spotify — Spotify gained 3.1% after the company sent an internal memo to staff on Monday announcing plans to lay off 6% of its global workforce, or about 600 employees. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek admitted the streaming giant was “too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth.”
Skechers — Skechers popped 3.7% after Cowen upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform. The firm said there were potential upsides that Wall Street could be overlooking.
Salesforce — Salesforce shares advanced 3.9% following news that activist investor Elliot Management has reportedly made a multibillion-dollar investment in the company. The announcement comes a few weeks after Salesforce announced it would cut 10% of its staff and close some offices.
Qualcomm — Shares of the semiconductor manufacturer rose 6.7% after Barclays upgraded its rating from overweight to equal weight. The firm cited Qualcomm’s exposure to data centers, personal computers, and headsets as reasons for its more optimistic rating.
Western Digital — Shares jumped 7% after Bloomberg reported that merger talks between Western Digital and Kioxia are advancing. Western Digital would spin off its flash business and merge it with Kioxia in a separately traded company, the report said.
Xylem — Shares of water technology stock Xylem sank 8.2% on news that the company is acquiring Evoqua Water Technologies in an all-stock deal valued at roughly $7.5 billion. Evoqua shares jumped more than 14% following the announcement.
— CNBC’s Michelle Fox, Alex Harring, Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound, Carmen Reinicke, Pia Singh, and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.
