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Check out the companies making headlines in afternoon trading. Spotify – The streaming music stock rose 2.2% after Pivotal Research upgraded Spotify from Hold to Buy. Pivotal notes that the company sees a “renewed focus on financial discipline” and expects Spotify to focus more on generating free cash flow going forward. Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Discovery – Shares of media groups Paramount and Warner Bros. were down 2.7% and 1.4%, respectively. A day earlier, CNBC reported that the two companies were engaged in preliminary talks for a possible merger. Cava – Shares of the restaurant chain rose about 4.1% after Wedbush upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral. Micron – The semiconductor stock rose 8.6% on strong quarterly finance report and outlook. Late Wednesday, Micron exceeded analysts’ expectations surveyed by LSEG on both lines in the first fiscal quarter, while also giving positive guidance for the current quarter. Cheesecake Factory – Shares rose 2.3% after an upgrade to outperform from Wedbush, with the company highlighting its exceptional transaction growth compared to peers. BlackBerry – The cybersecurity company’s stock fell 13% after BlackBerry issued lower-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter revenue guidance. CarMax – Shares of the car dealer rose 5.2%. CarMax outperformed earnings in its fiscal third quarter. The company also said it would reinstate its stock repurchase program. Salesforce – Shares of Salesforce rose 2.7% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the software company to an overweight rating, citing a “bridge to better growth” into 2024. The firm sees Salesforce’s data cloud as critical to the advancement of the company’s generative artificial intelligence-related apps. Carnival – Shares of cruise operator Carnival rose about 6.2% after the company reported a smaller-than-expected loss in its fiscal fourth quarter. Carnival reported an adjusted loss of 7 cents per share for the last quarter, compared with estimates for a loss of 13 cents per LSEG. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.4 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $5.31 billion. Paychex – The payroll services provider fell 7% after posting fiscal second-quarter revenue that fell slightly short of Street expectations. Paychex reported revenue of $1.26 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet reported revenue of $1.27 billion. Adjusted earnings were $1.08 per share, which was 1 percent above estimates. — CNBC’s Yun Lee, Alex Haring, Jesse Pound and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.
