Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Walmart, CVS Health, Wolfspeed

Cisco Systems — Shares of the computer networking titan gained 4% after the company reported earnings that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. Adjusted earnings per share for its fiscal fourth quarter were $1.14, exceeding the $1.06 that Refinitiv-polled analysts had predicted. The revenue was $15.2 billion, compared to the expected $15.05 billion.

Walmart — Shares of the big-box retailer declined nearly 2%, despite the fact that Walmart surpassed estimates for the most recent quarter and raised its full-year outlook due to robust grocery and e-commerce growth. The company’s adjusted earnings per share were $1.84, exceeding the $1.71 forecast by analysts polled by Refinitiv. The actual revenue was $161.63 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate of $160.27 billion.

Hawaii Electric Company — The utility stock fell 15% to a new 52-week low as investors remained concerned about the company’s potential liability in the Maui conflagration. The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday that Hawaiian Electric is in discussions with restructuring specialists.

— CVS Health Blue Shield of California terminated its pharmacy benefits partnership with CVS Caremark and announced it will instead join forces with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs and Amazon Pharmacy to help members save money on prescription medications.

The semiconductor stock gained 3.9% on Thursday, following a nearly 30% decline on Wednesday. While Coherent reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations earlier this week, the company’s guidance for current-quarter and full-year earnings and revenue came in below analyst expectations. Recently, investment firm Rosenblatt upgraded shares from neutral to buy, observing that the post-earnings sell-off was “overdone” and that the weak full-year outlook should be viewed as conservative.

Ball — BAE Systems will acquire Ball’s aerospace business for $5.55 billion in cash, which pushed the stock price up by 3% on Thursday.

Adyen — Europe’s Stripe competitor Adyen lost 36% in midday trading after the company reported weaker-than-anticipated sales and a decline in profits for the first half of the year, a result of increased hiring and competition. According to Eikon data, Adyen’s revenue of 739.1 million euros between January and June 2023 fell short of analysts’ expectations of 853.6 million euros.

— Wolfspeed Wednesday following the release of the company’s quarterly earnings report, shares of the semiconductor developer fell 16%. Refinitiv projected a loss of 20 cents per share for Wolfspeed’s fiscal fourth quarter, but the company reported an adjusted loss of 42 cents per share.

VinFast Auto — Shares of the Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer dropped 18% during midday trading on Wednesday as the stock searches for its level following its Nasdaq debut on Tuesday. After VinFast merged with a special purpose acquisition company, the stock climbed more than 250% in its first trading session, but fell nearly 19% the following day.

— América Móvil Citi upgraded the Mexican telecommunications company to buy from neutral in a note published on Wednesday and raised its price target, with the new forecast implying more than 26% upside from Wednesday’s closing price. The company anticipates that the recent stock decline, which it attributes to capital expenditures and sellers escaping because of an August MSCI rebalance, will abate in the near future.