Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. McGrath RentCorp — Shares jumped more than 9% after WillScot Mobile Mini, an equipment rental company, said it would buy McGrath RentCorp in a $3.8 billion cash-and-stock transaction. Dollar Tree — Shares of the discount retail chain popped 1% following an upgrade to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan. As catalysts, the bank cited a larger total addressable market and higher profitability. SoFi Technologies – Shares of the financial services provider surged 21% after the company reported its fourth-quarter financial results. SoFi posted earnings of 2 cents per share, beating Wall Street estimates by 2 cents, according to LSEG. It also reported $594.2 million in revenue, while analysts anticipated $571.8 million. iRobot – The Roomba maker slumped 11% after agreeing to terminate its planned merger with Amazon , citing “no path to regulatory approval.” iRobot also said it would cut 31% of its staff, or about 350 employees, and its CEO stepped down. Amazon shares inched up slightly. Western Digital — The memory chip maker gained 2.5% following reports on Jan. 27 that Bain Capital is restarting discussions to facilitate a merger between Western Digital and Japan-based Kioxia Holdings. Bloom Energy — The green energy stock declined more than 7%. Bank of America downgraded shares to underperform from neutral on flat revenue projections from 2023 to 2025. ZoomInfo Technologies — Shares jumped more than 6% after Bank of America upgraded shares to buy from neutral on revenue growth acceleration. Analyst Koji Ikeda named new AI products as potential tailwinds. Hershey — Shares gained 1% after AllianceBernstein upgraded the chocolate maker to outperform from market perform. The firm cited tailwinds including improving market share and volume trends, as well as an attractive valuation and strong top-line growth. Warner Bros Discovery — Shares of the media and entertainment company fell more than 2% after Wells Fargo downgraded Warner to equal weight from overweight. The Wall Street firm said the company’s networks business is under pressure from ratings declines and subscription cancellations, while its HBO slate should be much stronger this year. Flywire — Shares of the fintech company gained 3.75% after being upgraded by Morgan Stanley to overweight from equal weight. The bank said it is optimistic Flywire can sustain its growth rates. Builders FirstSource — The building products supplier popped 2.6% on the back of a Bank of America upgrade to buy from neutral. The firm said the company is well-positioned in an environment with improved single-family starts, increasing lumber prices and a need for more value-add services in the homebuilding industry. Hershey — Shares of the snack food company rose about 1% after Bernstein upgraded Hersey to outperform from market perform. The investment firm said in a note to clients that Hershey is improving its market share and has the ability to raise prices to match the higher cost of cocoa. Beam Therapeutics — Shares jumped 7% on Monday after JPMorgan upgraded the biotech stock to overweight from neutral and upped its price target on the stock, saying current levels are at an “attractive entry point.” The firm thinks Beam should benefit from increased market share, commercial opportunity and a strong gene therapy pipeline particularly in AATD, which is a genetic condition that predisposes an individual to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and liver disease. — CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Michelle Fox, Alex Harring, Lisa Kailai Han, Sarah Min, Pia Singh and Tanaya Macheel contributed reporting
Read the full article here
