Stocks making the biggest moves midday: AES, NVDA, BE, VRNA
Here are some of the companies making big moves in midday trading. Monster Beverage — The energy drink manufacturer dropped nearly 3% after Rothschild & Co. downgraded shares to neutral from buy. Analyst Charlie Higgs pointed to uncertainty around aluminum tariffs, noting that “this has yet to be reflected in consensus estimates, which look too high in 2026.” Nvidia — The chip giant jumped 2% to touch a fresh all-time high and lift its market capitalization to $4 trillion — making it the first company to hit that threshold. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose slightly, catching a tailwind from Nvidia and Broadcom . The latter stock gained 1% and hit a record in the session. Fair Isaac — Shares of the consumer credit rating company slid 5%, placing them on track for a second straight losing day. On Tuesday, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte said on social media platform X that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would allow lenders to use VantageScore 4.0 to determine borrowers’ creditworthiness. VantageScore is a competitor to Fair Isaac’s FICO scores. Penguin Solutions — The enterprise solutions provider for computing, memory, and LED markets rallied 6% after fiscal third-quarter earnings, excluding one-time items, topped analyst estimates, per FactSet, and it raised its full year earnings guidance. RxSight — The maker of light adjustable lenses plunged nearly 40% after preliminary second-quarter revenue missed consensus analyst estimates as compiled by FactSet. Sales of Light Delivery Devices are expected to be down 45% from the first quarter and 49% from a year ago. Full-year sales forecast was also far below prior company estimates. Hershey — Shares of the confectioner slid 4%, adding to Tuesday’s losses. Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner is expected to take the reins at Hershey’s, effective Aug. 18. He will succeed Michele Buck who is slated to retire after about two decades at Hershey — eight of them as CEO. AES — The stock jumped 17% following a Bloomberg report that the energy company was exploring a potential sale amid interest from infrastructure investors. Verona Pharma — Shares surged 20% after Merck bought U.K.-based Verona Pharma in a roughly $10 billion deal to expand its respiratory treatment portfolio. Merck shares rose 2%. UnitedHealth — The health insurer saw shares drop more than 2% after The Wall Street Journal reported the Justice Department’s criminal health-care fraud unit is investigating the company’s Medicare billing practices, citing people familiar with the matter. Mobileye Global — The autonomous driving company’s shares declined 4% after an Intel subsidiary announced it will unload 45 million shares of Mobileye Global in an underwritten secondary public offering. WPP — Shares of the advertising company sank nearly 19% after WPP said there has been a “deterioration in performance” during its second quarter. The company lowered its full-year guidance for revenue, less pass-through costs and operating profit margin, with both now set to decline year over year. Bloom Energy — The energy stock jumped more than 6% after a JPMorgan upgrade to overweight from neutral. The bank said Bloom Energy could benefit from President Donald Trump’s recently signed tax bill. — CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Michelle Fox, Sarah Min, Jesse Pound, Yun Li and Scott Schnipper contributed reporting.
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