Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Comerica — Shares of the regional bank added 0.7% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. The firm said it expects regional banks’ earnings power to improve starting in the second half of this year. Truist Financial — Shares added 1.3% on an upgrade to buy from Bank of America, which pointed to three reasons for the upgrade: Truist’s balance sheet, the company’s focus on franchise efficiency and its growth potential. Walgreens Boots Alliance — The pharmaceutical chain operator lost 5.1% after it cut its quarterly dividend to 25 cents per share from 48 cents per share in an effort to “strengthen its long-term balance sheet and cash position.” Still, Walgreens posted fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations. Allstate — The insurance company advanced 2.4% on a bullish call from Morgan Stanley, which upgraded Allstate to overweight and said the company is an “underappreciated story” that could see better earnings growth in 2024. Eli Lilly — The pharmaceutical stock ended Thursday down 0.5%, after briefly gaining during the day. Eli Lilly on Thursday launched a website called LillyDirect that gives people access to weight loss drugs through telehealth providers. Mobileye — Shares plunged 24.6% after the autonomous driving tech company forecast that its first-quarter revenue would fall 50% year over year. Mobileye said it expects a dramatic drop off in customer orders due to excess inventory. As a result, Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform from neutral. General Motors — Wolfe Research upgraded the legacy automaker to outperform, leading the stock to trade 0.6% higher Thursday. Investors are underestimating GM’s earnings and cash flow power, the firm said. APA — Shares of the oil producer slid 7.4% after the company agreed to buy Permian Basin producer Callon Petroleum in a $4.5 billion all-stock transaction , including debt. Callon, which has a market cap of $2.3 billion as of Wednesday’s closing level, saw shares jump nearly 4%. Cal-Maine Foods — Shares of the egg company rose 2.6% despite Cal-Maine reporting a year-over-year drop in net sales and net profit for its fiscal second quarter. On Wednesday, the company said its sales volume of eggs rose but the net average selling price dropped by roughly $1 per dozen compared to the same period in the prior year. Apple — The iPhone maker’s stock price lost about 1.2% after Piper Sandler downgraded shares to neutral from overweight, citing valuation concerns, macro weakness and a strained handset outlook. This marks the second major downgrade for Apple. Shares have slid more than 5% since Tuesday. — CNBC’s Yun Li, Jesse Pound, Sarah Min and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
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