Hot Stocks: LW rises on earnings; COST drops on weak March sales data; PINS, AMC and AI higher; ABNB slides

Key market averages declined during Thursday's midday session as higher-than-anticipated unemployment claims fueled concerns about the impending recession.

Taking a closer look at the individual stocks, Lamb Weston Holding (NYSE:LW) shares increased in value due to positive Q3 earnings and outlook. Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) rose after Raymond James initiated the coverage with an outperform rating.

Meanwhile, AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) climbed after the court rejected a conversion settlement, and shares of C3.ai (NYSE:AI) rose as a result of a denial of short seller charges.

Among decliners, Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) slumped after it reported weak same-store sales for the month of March.

Gainers

On Thursday, Lamb Weston (LW) shares increased by nearly 3% after the company released Q3 results that beat expectations and updated its guidance for FY2023. The company raised projections for net sales from prior $4.8B - $4.9B to $5.25B - $5.35B vs. consensus of $5.15B and adjusted EPS from $3.75 - $4.00 to $4.35 - $4.50 vs. consensus of $3.94.

Raymond James started covering Pinterest (PINS) with an outperform rating, which resulted in a 2% increase in the stock price. The firm expects steady user growth, as well as “double-digit long-term revenue growth” from product improvements.

Shares of AMC Entertainment (AMC) increased by more than 19% following the Delaware Court of Chancery's rejection of a proposed settlement between AMC and shareholders intended to permit a sequence of transactions culminating in a capital raising.

C3.ai (AI) shares jumped 12% amid a response to some claims of short seller Kerrisdale Capital. The short-seller letter from Kerrisdale Capital, which caused shares to drop 38% over the last two days, was stock price manipulation, according to CEO Tom Siebel.

Decliners

Shares of Costco (COST) dropped by ~3% after its March comparable sales decreased by 1.1% Y/Y while its net sales only rose by 0.5%. Y/Y.

Canadian and the U.S. comparable sales both decreased by 2.4% and 1.5 percent, respectively. Comparable sales overseas increased by 2%. Moreover, comparable sales for online shopping decreased by 12.7%.

Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) slipped more than 3% on a new short report from The Bear Cave.

To track Wall Street's biggest winners and losers throughout the session, head over to Seeking Alpha's On The Move section.