See the companies making headlines in midday trading. Affirm Holdings – Shares jumped nearly 7% after announcing that buy now, pay later credits would be built into Apple Pay as a shopping option. US Apple Pay users on iPhone and iPad will be able to take advantage of this option later this year, the company said in a statement. General Motors – Shares of the automaker rose about 2% after announcing a $6 billion stock buyback program. GM also cut its electric vehicle sales forecast for 2024 due to slow adoption. The company plans to produce 200,000 to 250,000 electric vehicles this year, up from a previous range of 200,000 to 300,000. Apple – Shares jumped about 6% a day after the iPhone maker announced its artificial intelligence strategy at Worldwide Conference developers. Apple executives said Siri will use ChatGPT thanks to Apple’s partnership with OpenAI, as well as other updates. GameStop – Shares rose about 2%, paring losses after a recent decline. GameStop shares fell 12% on Monday, extending Friday’s decline after a poor earnings report and the first live broadcast in years by Keith Gill, the meme stock leader known as Roaring Kitty. FMC Corp. Shares of the agricultural company jumped more than 4% after the announcement that former CEO Pierre Brondeau was returning to his former post, effective immediately, to replace Mark Douglas, CEO and president, who stepped down. Ronaldo Pereira was appointed president. The company also reaffirmed its revenue and profit guidance for the second quarter. Shopify – Shares rose 1% after JPMorgan initiated the overrated e-commerce company, saying the battered stock is a “can’t-miss online sale.” The company said Shopify’s product breadth, ease of use and scale are unique competitive advantages that will fuel its growth. DXC Technology – Shares were relatively flat after Reuters reported that Apollo Global and Kyndryl Holdings are making a joint bid to acquire the IT services company. Reuters reported that the duo is offering between $22 and $25 per share of the IT company. Apollo shares fell 1.4% in afternoon trading, while Kyndril shares fell 0.9%. Southwest Airlines – Shares fell 4% after the airline said it was open to meeting with Elliott. The activist management firm owns a $1.9 billion stake in Southwest and has previously said it would seek leadership changes at Southwest. Calavo Growers – Shares of the avocado distributor rose more than 8% after the company significantly beat second-quarter expectations. CEO Lee Cole said “improved prices and margins in our core avocado business as well as our tomato portfolio” contributed to the better-than-expected results. The company’s guacamole business also improved compared to last year. Academy Sports and Outdoors – The retailer fell about 4% after a disappointing first quarter and Bank of America’s downgrade to neutral from buy. After adjustments, Academy earned $1.08 per share, compared with analysts polled by FactSet calling for $1.21 per share. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Samantha Subin, Lisa Kailai Khan, Pia Singh, Sarah Min and Jessie Pound contributed reporting.
