Pre-Market : Palo Alto Networks gains; Napco Security falls: Stocks in news August 21

Pre-Market active stocks

Gainers

• Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) stock jumped 12% after the cybersecurity firm provided an enthusiastic outlook for the current quarter, anticipating further strength in billings growth. 
•  The shares of XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) increased 5.9% after Bank of America Securities upgraded the Chinese EV manufacturer to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral,’ noting a cooperation with German automaker Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p). 
• Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock jumped 3.1% after research firm Baird restated its ‘Buy’ rating and named the electric vehicle manufacturer its Best Pick for the year.  
• Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares jumped 2.5% as HSBC raised its price target to $780, the second highest on Wall Street, ahead of the chip designer’s quarterly report on Wednesday – a key test for the stock market advance this year.  
• Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares increased 0.7% after the UK’s competition regulator announced it had allowed the $69 billion acquisition of VMware (NYSE:VMW), up 6.4%, following an in-depth investigation. 
• Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) climbed 0.6% after the software behemoth announced plans to launch a web version of its new text-first social media platform Threads, hoping to gain a competitive advantage over X, formerly Twitter. According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of daily active Threads users has dropped to less than 10 million, down from a peak of around 50 million days after its inception.  

Losers

• The stock of Napco Security (NASDAQ:NSSC) fell 35% after the high-tech electronic security equipment manufacturer said that it would modify its financial statements for the first three quarters of its fiscal year 2023 due to accounting irregularities.  
• Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) stock fell 11% after the EV manufacturer announced a $325 million convertible bond deal just a week after recalling all of the battery-powered electric trucks it has delivered to date due to a coolant leak inside a battery pack discovered during an investigation into recent fires. 

MARKET MOVERS 

After-Market movers

GAINERS

• Fabrinet (NYSE:FN) is up 16% after reporting Q4 earnings per share of $1.86, $0.06 higher than the average expectation of $1.80. Revenue for the quarter was $655.9 million, compared to the consensus expectation of $641.43 million. Based on roughly 36.5 million fully diluted shares outstanding, Q1 non-GAAP earnings are expected to range from $1.83 to $1.90.  
• Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ:ZM) is up 4% after reporting Q2 earnings per share of $1.34, $0.28 higher than the average expectation of $1.06. Revenue for the quarter was $1.14 billion, compared to the consensus forecast of $1.11 billion. Zoom forecasts Q3 2024 earnings per share of $1.07-$1.09, compared to the average of $1.03. Zoom anticipates sales in the third quarter of 2024 of $1.115-1.12 billion, compared to the consensus of $1.13 billion. Zoom anticipates FY2024 EPS of $4.63-$4.67, compared to the consensus of $4.30. Zoom expects FY2024 sales of $4.485-4.495 billion, compared to the consensus of $4.48 billion.  

LOSERS

Tingo Group Inc (NASDAQ:TIO) (31% LOWER) said today that it has postponed its second-quarter 2023 results release and conference call, as well as the filing of its Form 10-Q for the period ending June 30, 2023, yet again. 

Nordson Corp (NASDAQ:NDSN) is down 5% after reporting Q3 earnings per share of $2.35, $0.03 higher than the average expectation of $2.32. Revenue for the quarter was $649 million, compared to the consensus expectation of $664.94 million. Nordson Corp. expects FY2023 earnings per share of $8.90-$9.05, compared to the consensus of $9.06.  

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE:AAP) is down 1%; Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) will replace Advance Auto Parts Inc. in the S&P 500, and Advance Auto Parts will replace Emergent Biosolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) in the S&P SmallCap 600. 

MIDDAY MOVERS

GAINERS

• Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) stock jumped 15.6% after the cybersecurity firm provided an enthusiastic outlook for the current quarter, anticipating further strength in billings growth. 
• The stock of XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) increased 9.6% after Bank of America Securities upgraded the Chinese EV manufacturer to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral,’ noting a cooperation with Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p). 
• Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares surged 6.6% after HSBC upped its price target to $780, the second highest on Wall Street, ahead of the chip designer’s quarterly release on Wednesday – a key test for the stock market advance this year. 
• The stock of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) surged 5.9% after investment company Baird confirmed its ‘Buy’ rating, naming the EV manufacturer its Best Pick for the year. 
• Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares jumped 4.1% after the UK’s competition regulator said it had allowed the $69 billion acquisition of VMware (NYSE:VMW), up 6.4%, following an in-depth investigation. 
• The shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) increased 2% after the software giant announced plans to launch a web version of its new text-first social media platform Threads, hoping to gain a competitive advantage over X, formerly Twitter. According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of daily active Threads users has dropped to less than 10 million, down from a peak of around 50 million days after its inception. 

LOSERS

• The stock of Napco Security (NASDAQ:NSSC) fell 44% after the high-tech electronic security equipment manufacturer said that it would modify its financial statements for the first three quarters of its fiscal year 2023 due to accounting irregularities. 
• Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) stock plunged 22% after the EV manufacturer announced a $325 million convertible bond deal just a week after recalling all of the battery-powered electric trucks it has supplied to far due to a coolant leak inside a battery pack discovered during an investigation into recent fires. 

UPGRADES BY EXPERTS 

Picks  

XPeng soars as a result of BofA’s upgrading 

Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) shares rose more than 5% in pre-market trading today after BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and increased its price objective to $22.00 from $16.30. 

Following the fourth quarter, Lumentum was raised to Buy. 

Rosenblatt raised Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) to Buy from Neutral with a $62.00 price target after the firm posted better-than-expected Q4 results last week, however guidance fell short. 

Shares of Strategic Education (NASDAQ:STRA) climbed more than 3% on Friday after BofA Securities upgraded the firm to Buy from Neutral with a price objective of $90.00 (up from $99.00). 

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) shares gained more than 1% in pre-market trading today after Goldman Sachs upgraded the company to Neutral from Sell and increased its price objective to $64.00 from $43.00. 

DOWNGRADES BY EXPERTS

CVS Health has been lowered to Hold. 

Following news that Blue Shield of California will no longer use CVS Health’s Caremark, its current pharmacy-benefit manager, Edward Jones downgraded CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) to Hold from Buy. As a result, stocks fell more than 8% on Thursday. 

Medical Properties Trust cut at JPMorgan 

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) shares plummeted more than 4% premarket today after JPMorgan downgraded the business to Underweight from Neutral and reduced its price objective to $7.00 from $9.00. 

Napco Security Technologies (NASDAQ:NSSC) was downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform by William Blair. 

Shares fell more than 34% premarket today after the firm announced that it would alter its financial statements for the first three quarters of its fiscal year 2023 due to inaccuracies in the computation of cost of goods sold and inventories. 

Insulet (NASDAQ:PODD) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform by Baird, and its price objective was reduced to $219.00 from $320.00. 

Earnings Calendar

Monday, August 21 

• Zoom Video Communications (ZM),  Nordson Corp. (NDSN),  Fabrinet (FN),  Qifu Technology Inc. (QFIN),

Tuesday, August 22 

• Lowe’s Companies (LOW),  Medtronic (MDT),  Baidu (BIDU),  KE Holdings (BEKE),  Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS),  Coty Inc. (COTY), BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ),  Toll Brothers (TOL),  Macy’s (M),  Urban Outfitters (URBN),  La-Z-Boy Inc. (LZB)  

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