Check out the companies making big moves midday.
Novo Nordisk — The Danish drugmaker stock added 5.5% after saying late Tuesday it was halting Ozempic’s kidney disease treatment trial after a committee said an analysis showed signs of success. Eli Lilly, which makes diabetes drug Mounjaro, rose 3.8%.
DaVita, Fresenius Medical Care, Baxter International — Shares of dialysis services providers DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care sank 18.4% and 19.6%, respectively, on Novo Nordisk’s news. Baxter International, which makes products for chronic dialysis therapies, slid 9%.
Exxon Mobil, Pioneer Natural Resources — Exxon Mobil shares fell more than 4% after the largest U.S. oil and gas producer agreed to buy shale rival Pioneer Natural Resources for $59.5 billion in an all-stock deal, or $253 per share. Pioneer stockholders will receive 2.3234 shares of Exxon for every Pioneer share held. The deal, Exxon’s biggest since its acquisition of Mobil, is expected to close in the first half of 2024. Shares of Pioneer rose 1% following the news.
Humana — Shares slipped 2% after CEO Bruce Broussard said he will step down from his position in the latter half of 2024. The company named Jim Rechtin of Envision Healthcare as his successor.
Amgen — The biopharma stock added 3.5% following an upgrade from Leerink to outperform. Analyst David Risinger cited an expanding earnings multiple and pipeline newsflow as catalysts.
Shoals Technologies — Shares gained 6.3% after being upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs. The investment bank cited valuation and the potential for gross margin upside.
Ally Financial — The provider of loans to midsize businesses dropped 3.6% after CEO Jeffrey Brown announced plans to step down, effective Jan. 31, 2024.
Walgreens Boots Alliance — The pharmacy chain added 1% after former Cigna executive Tim Wentworth was named CEO effective Oct. 23.
Coherent — The stock popped 5.8% in midday trading. Coherent announced Tuesday that Japanese companies will invest $1 billion in Coherent’s silicon carbide business. On Wednesday, B. Riley upgraded shares to buy from neutral, saying Coherent’s silicon carbide business could be worth more than the Street’s current estimate.
Plug Power — The battery company climbed 3.4% after forecasting a sharp rise in revenue to roughly $6 billion by 2027, according to a regulatory filing.
Take-Two Interactive Software — Shares gained 1.2% after being upgraded by Raymond James to outperform from market perform. The firm said it sees a path to more consistent video game releases and a reasonable valuation based on Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto 6 release soon.
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom, Hakyung Kim, Yun Li and Lisa Han contributed reporting.