These were some of the biggest movers and shakers on Wednesday:
Stock gainers:
- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. stock BBBY rose 2.8% after the troubled household items retailer said it has received about $135 million in gross proceeds from the exercise of preferred stock warrants that were issued as part of a public equity offering conducted on Feb. 7. That deal, which was described by KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Bradley Thomas as “one of the most unusual financing situations we have witnessed in 20+ years of following consumer and retail companies,” has now produced total proceeds of $360 million, which the company has mostly used to repay debt.
- Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s stock OXY rose 3.6% after filings disclosed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had upped its stake in the energy company by 6 million shares, taking its total to over 200 million shares worth more than $12 billion. Berkshire’s BRK stock edged up 0.1%.
- CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. shares CRWD increased almost 7% after the security software company posted higher-than-expected fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and a fiscal first quarter outlook that also beat analyst expectations. D.A. Davidson also raised the stock’s price target to $165 from $145.
- Shares of Fresh Tracks Therapeutics Inc. FRTX soared 60% after the clinical-stage pharmaceutical firm reported positive initial results from a trial that was testing an inhibitor which aims to restore immune balance in people with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
- Shares in cleaning products provider Diversey Holdings Ltd. DSEY jumped 38% following news that it agreed to a buyout by private-equity-backed chemical manufacturer Solenis. Bain Capital-backed Diversey agreed on an $8.40-a-share acquisition, which represented a 41% premium over its closing price on Tuesday.
Stock decliners
- Tesla Inc.’s stock TSLA stock moved down 3.2%, and has dropped 8.1% amid a three-day losing streak. Berenberg downgraded the electric vehicle maker to hold from buy, citing valuation concerns, but raised the stock price target to $210 from $200. The NHTSA is investigating two incidents where the company’s Model Y SUV’s steering wheel detached.
- Brown-Forman Corp. stock BF BF lost 3.2% after the maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey reported fiscal third-quarter profit that was less than half what was expected as inflation and supply chain costs weighed on margins.
- AMC Entertainment Holdings stock AMC fell 1% after Chief Executive Adam Aron said the cinema chain has asked the New York Stock Exchange and FINRA to look closely at the trading of its stock, after a high number of ‘Fail to Deliver’ transactions, which are associated with naked short selling.
- Stitch Fix Inc. shares SFIX dropped almost 7% after the fashion styling retailer missed analyst expectations of its fiscal second quarter revenue and announced its CFO Dan Jedda was stepping down after under three years in the role.
- United Natural Foods Inc.’s stock UNFI fell 33%, after the grocery wholesaler reported fiscal second-quarter profit that missed by a wide margin, as “rapidly accelerating inflation” took a bite out of results. The company slashed its fiscal 2023 guidance range for adjusted EPS $3.05 to $3.90 from $4.85 to $5.15, but raised its sales outlook to $30.1 billion to $30.5 billion from $29.8 billion to $30.4 billion.
- Trulieve Cannabis Corp. stock CA:TRUL TCNNF tumbled 5% after the Tallahassee, Fla.-based company posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and revenue that fell slightly short of estimates.
- Life Time Group Holdings Inc. stock LTH slid 4% to reverse premarket gains after the operator of athletic country clubs posted better-than-expected profit for the fourth quarter and offered upbeat guidance for 2023
- SoundHound AI Inc.’s stock SOUN dropped 9% following a fourth-quarter update, which included a wider loss than expected. The AI audio and speech recognition company posted a loss of $30.7 million, compared with a loss of $21.8 million in the same period last year.
- Synchronoss Technologies Inc. shares SNCR declined almost 15% after reporting a widening loss during the fiscal fourth quarter. The cloud and enterprise solutions provider said that its revenue was dragged down due to the macroeconomic environment impacting foreign currency and slowing down activity from its customers.
