Stocks making the biggest moves midday: eBay, Sandisk, Meta Platforms, IonQ, Lumentum & more
Here are some of the companies making headlines in midday trading. Memory stocks – Shares of memory chip companies slid after China’s CXMT said it will begin producing next-generation memory chips that will compete for market share with U.S. and Korean companies. Micron Technology lost about 3%, as did Seagate Technology . Western Digital fell more than 2% and Sandisk lost more than 5%. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) shed 4%. eBay — The e-commerce company jumped more than 5% after Morgan Stanley dubbed eBay a top pick and lifted its price target to $132, suggesting nearly 18% upside. The firm estimates that the $27 billion live selling market – which involves selling products in real time through a livestream – is “driving 40%+ of EBAY’s growth.” Meta Platforms — Shares gained more than 3% on speculation that Meta is gearing up to roll out a new artificial intelligence model codenamed Watermelon, according to StreetAccount. On Monday, Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang posted on social media platform X “vibes kinda good,” followed by a watermelon emoji. Optical stocks — Investors took a few chips off the table after artificial intelligence plays saw a rebound last Friday. Ciena was last down more than 8%, while Lumentum slid 9%. Applied Optoelectronics fell 6%. Salesforce — The stock rose almost 2% after a Bank of America double upgrade to buy from underperform. The bank argued that artificial intelligence should not disrupt, rather “deepen dependence” on the software name. First Solar — Shares gained 2% after Truist upgraded the solar name to buy from hold. The bank is confident in the growth and strong demand in the solar market over the coming years, as well as First Solar’s pricing power in the industry. Biogen — Shares of Biogen rose nearly 4% after analysts at JPMorgan upgraded the biotech name to overweight from neutral . The firm cited several clinical readouts in 2027 as catalysts for Biogen. SLM — Shares advanced 4% after the company, which deals with the administration of education loans, was upgraded by Morgan Stanley to overweight from equal weight. The stock down 15% year to date is a buying opportunity, Morgan Stanley said, given its favorable valuation. Mattel — The toymaker rose 1% after analysts at Seaport upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. With speculation of a potential takeover swirling, “we think investors are taking a closer look at toy stocks and realizing that there’s underappreciated value,” the research firm wrote. IonQ — Shares fell more than 8% after The Wall Street Journal reported the company had bought cybersecurity firm Elisityfor up to $1.3 billion. Quantum computing stocks Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum each shed roughly 5% in sympathy. — CNBC’s Nick Wells and Tom Rotunno contributed reporting.
