See the companies making headlines in midday trading. Hertz Global – The car rental company lost about 4% after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating to neutral. Investors have not yet fully appreciated some short-term problems, the bank writes. Block. Financial services shares fell nearly 2% after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating to underperform from equal weight. The firm cited “high market penetration and limited additional capabilities” as the reason for the change. Zeta Global – Software shares rose 17% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the software company to an overweight rating from equal weight. The bank wrote that it expects positive revisions to estimates and estimates going forward, reflecting Zeta’s near-term catalysts and a “strong track record” of prudent management. Wayfair — Shares of the home-focused e-commerce retailer rose more than 3% after Evercore ISI upgraded it to an outperform rating. The firm predicts that Wayfair will gain market share as the home goods market recovers. Levi Strauss — Shares of the apparel company rose 16% after it beat first-quarter revenue and profit expectations and raised its full-year profit forecast. Conagra Brands — Shares of the consumer packaged goods company rose 5% after its fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue beat analysts’ estimates. Conagra reported adjusted earnings of 69 cents per share on revenue of $3.03 billion, beating FactSet expectations of 65 cents per share on revenue of $3.01 billion. Lamb Weston – Shares fell nearly 20% after potato maker Free missed third-quarter earnings and revenue. Lamb Weston reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.20 per share, less than the $1.45 expected by analysts polled by FactSet. The company’s revenue of $1.46 billion was also below the expected $1.65 billion. Alaska Air Group – the airline added 5%. Alaska said it received $160 million in compensation from Boeing after grounding the 737 Max 9. Grindr, an LGBTQ-focused dating app, rose 2.5% after Raymond James initiated coverage with an outperform rating. The firm said it sees several reasons to be optimistic about the stock, including its moat, consumer base and profitability. HubSpot — Shares soared nearly 10% after Reuters reported that Alphabet was in talks to make an offer for the marketing software company. Alphabet has not yet submitted a proposal for a deal. Solventum – Healthcare stocks rose 4.5%. Solventum just split from 3M on Monday, and Thursday’s popularity marked its first positive day since its debut. Solar Energy Stocks. Solar energy stocks rose during Thursday’s session as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell. Enphase Energy shares rose 7% and First Solar shares rose 6%. SolarEdge Technologies shares rose more than 7%. — CNBC’s Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim contributed reporting.
