Pre-market : Circur Rise: Lordstown Falls/ Stocks June 27

Pre-market active stocks

Gainers

• The shares of Circor (NYSE:CIR) went up 7.3% after the company said it would accept KKR’s updated offer to buy it for $1.7 billion, including debt.
• Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) stock went up 2.8% after the company said it would work with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) to let users use their own data to build AI models.
• Kellogg (NYSE:K) stock went up about 2.5% after Goldman Sachs changed the company’s rating from “neutral” to “buy,” saying that the stock is overpriced compared to its growth prospects.
• Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) stock went up 0.9% after the company said it expects full-year earnings per share to be at the high end of what it had predicted before.
• The stock of Manchester United (NYSE:MANU) went up 0.7% after the English Premier League raised its forecasts for revenue and profit for the year, betting on strong commercial and matchday income.

Losers

• Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ:RIDE) stock dropped 64% after the U.S. company that makes electric trucks filed for bankruptcy and said it would sue Taiwanese company Foxconn (TW:2354) for not investing up to $170 million.
• Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) stock dropped 7.3% after the pharmacy store chain cut its earnings forecast because consumers are spending less and there is less desire for COVID care.
• Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) stock fell 1.58 percent after JPMorgan changed its rating on the energy company from “overweight” to “neutral.” They did this because the company is still nearly unhedged on natural gas and liquids after 2023.
• Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock fell 0.8% after Bernstein dropped Google’s parent company from “outperform” to “market perform,” saying “it’s time to move to the sidelines” because the stock had risen 40% so far this year.

MARKET MOVERS 

MIDDAY MOVERS

GAINERS

• Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) shares went up 5.5% after the company raised its outlook for the June quarter and said that full-year earnings per share could be at the high end of the range it had previously given.
• Generac Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNRC) shares went up 8.5% after the CEO of the company that makes home generators told Bloomberg News that the heat wave in the South, especially in Texas, is causing more people to want to buy backup generators.
• Shares of Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) went up 3.6% after the cloud-based data company said it was working with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) to give users access to artificial intelligence.

LOSERS

• Lordstown Motors Corp (NASDAQ:RIDE) stock dropped 36% after the company that makes electric trucks filed for bankruptcy and said it was for sale. The company is fighting Foxconn (TW:2354), which is based in Taiwan, over a $170 million cash infusion that didn’t happen.
• Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) stock fell 9% after the pharmacy chain lowered its outlook for the year, citing falling sales of COVID vaccines and medications, and missed expectations for third-quarter earnings.

AFTER MARKET MOVERS

Gainers

• AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) went up by 6%; its Q4 earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.99, which was $0.03 less than what analysts expected ($1.02). The revenue for the quarter was $186 million, which was more than the average expectation of $164.97 million. AeroVironment expects its earnings per share for fiscal year 2024 to be between $2.30 and $2.60, while the average estimate is $2.04. AeroVironment thinks that its sales for FY2024 will be between $630 and $660 million, while the average estimate is $600 million.

• Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPR) went up by 2% and reported the details of a new four-year contract proposal that was unanimously approved by the bargaining committee of the Local Lodge 839 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
• The Spirit AeroSystems deal with the union makes Boeing (NYSE:BA) go up by 1%.

Losers

• AST SpaceMobile Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ASTS) stock price went down by 18% today, and the company announced that it will start selling 12 million shares of its Class A common stock, which has a par value of $0.0001 each, to the public in an approved public offering.

Upgrades by Experts

Kellogg upgraded at Goldman Sachs

Kellogg (NYSE:K) shares rose more than 1% before the market opened today after Goldman Sachs changed its rating on the company from Neutral to Buy and raised its price target from $79 to $83. It said the stock is overpriced compared to its growth prospects.

Guidewire has been upgraded to a Buy because the move to the cloud is making good progress.

InvestingPro reported in real time that Stifel changed Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) from Hold to Buy and raised its price target from $75.00 to $85.00. Today, shares rose more than 2% before the market opened.

BofA Securities changed its rating on Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) from Neutral to Buy and raised its price target for the stock from $55.00 to $58.00.

B. Riley changed Century Communities (NYSE:CCS) from Neutral to Buy and set a $82.00 price target.

Downgrades by Experts

 Playa Hotels & Resorts was downgraded twice by BofA. 

Yesterday, Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:PLYA) shares fell nearly 7% after BofA Securities cut the company’s rating from Buy to Underperform and lowered its price target from $10 to $8. This showed that the company could face problems in the future because of the current market situation.

JPMorgan cuts its stake in Antero Resources.

JPMorgan changed its rating on Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) from Overweight to Neutral and lowered its price target from $36.00 to $30.00. It did this because the company is still nearly unhedged on natural gas and liquids in 2023 and beyond.

World Fuel Services (NYSE:WKC) shares dropped more than 10% yesterday after BofA Securities changed its rating for the company from Buy to Underperform and set a price target of $22.00.

The rating was changed because of macro headwinds caused by the falling price of crude oil, which made the fuel-forwarding volume picture less strong.
Morgan Stanley changed its rating for Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) from Equalweight to Underweight and lowered its price goal for the stock from $19.00 to $15.50. Shares dropped more than 2% before the market opened.

Stocks in news

MiMedx Group;- According to a Form 4 filing with the SEC after trading ended on Monday, MiMedx Group CEO Joseph Capper showed his faith in the company by buying 100,000 common shares. Between June 22 and June 23, 2023, the purchases were made at prices ranging from $6.3321 to $6.504, for a total value of over $640,000.

Ford (NYSE:F) wants to get rid of at least 1,000 paid workers and contract workers in North America to help pay for the high cost of making electric cars.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL +3%; upbeat outlook for Q2 as it sees adjusted EPS of $2.25–$2.50, which is higher than the estimate of $2.21, and it sees FY23 EPS at the top end of the $5–$6 range, which is higher than the consensus of $5.81. It also sees FY23 operating margin at the top end of the 10%–12% range, with free cash flow of $3B, which is higher than the previous estimate of more than $2B.

Lear Corp  LEA gained 2% and raised its free cash flow (FCF) outlook for the year to $480M-$580M from $375M-$525M. It also raised its sales outlook for FY23 from $21.2B-$22.2B to $22.35B-$23.05B and its core operating earnings outlook for 2023 from $875M-$1.08B to $1.01B-$1.14B.

TD Synnex Corp SNX fell by -7% because Q2 earnings per share and sales were lower than expected ($2.43/$14.06B vs. $2.55/$14.42B) and because Q3 earnings per share and sales are expected to be between $2.20 and $2.70 (estimated $2.76) and Q3 sales are expected to be between $13.5 billion and $14.5 billion, which is less than the average of $14.96 billion.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA fell by -8% because its Q3 earnings fell short of expectations and its forecast was lowered. Its Q3 adjusted earnings per share of $1.00 fell short of the consensus estimate of $1.07, but its revenue was better than expected at $35.42 billion (estimated to be $34.25 billion), and the company raised its FY adjusted earnings per share from $4.45 to $4.65 to $4.00 to $4.05, citing lower demand for COVID-19 tests and vaccines. 

Earnings Calendar

TUESDAY JUNE 27

Walgreens Boots (WBA) Collins Foods (CKF)

WEDNESDAY JUNE 28

J.Front Retailing (3086), Micron (MU), General Mills (GIS), JD Sports Fashion (JD), Premier Investments (PMV)