Coinbase, Virgin Galactic, Nvidia, UnitedHealth & more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. 

UnitedHealth – Shares of health care giant jumped more than 3% after results topped the Street’s forecasts. Its adjusted earnings came in at $5.31 per share, exceeding the $4.39 per share expected by analysts, according to FactSet. UnitedHealth also raised its earnings guidance for 2021.

Virgin Galactic – The space stock tumbled more than 12% to turn negative on the year after a filing showed founder Richard Branson sold more than $150 million worth of the company’s stock over the past three days. Branson, and four entities he controls including Virgin Group, sold 5,584,000 shares of Virgin Galactic between April 12 and April 14.

Rite Aid — Shares of the pharmacy chain tumbled more than 8% after the company’s fourth-quarter loss came in larger than expected. Rite Aid reported a loss of 78 cents per share on $5.92 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected a loss of 76 cents per share and $5.80 billion in revenue. The company’s CEO said in a release that business was impacted by a “historically soft” cold and flu season.

Coinbase — A day after the cryptocurrency exchange’s debut on the Nasdaq, shares rose 1.5%. The company got a buy rating and $500 per share price target, implying about 50% upside from yesterday’s close. The cryptocurrency exchange also got a vote of confidence from popular investor Cathie Wood, whose firm Ark Invest bought about $250 million worth of Coinbase on Wednesday.

Charles Schwab — Shares of the e-broker dipped more than 3%, despite beating on the top and bottom lines of its first quarter earnings. Schwab also said it added a record 3.2 million new clients in the first quarter of 2021. The firm added about 2.4 million new accounts in all of 2020, which excludes accounts added from its acquisitions.

Nvidia – The chip stock rose 4.6% after Raymond James upgraded the company to a strong buy. “Our call … is meant to express our conviction in both the short and long term,” the firm wrote in a note to clients. Raymond James also lifted its target on the stock from $700 to $750. The new target implies a 23% upside from where shares closed on Wednesday.

American Eagle – The retailer gained 3.7% after American Eagle said it anticipates first-quarter revenue topping $1 billion. The figure is ahead of the $904.1 million analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting. The company told CNBC that it’s seen strength in its denim division, and that customers have also started buying more tops. 

Bank of America – The bank stock fell 2.9% even after a quarterly report that topped Wall Street estimates on booming investment banking and trading results. Some analysts including Ken Usdin of Jefferies pointed to Bank of America’s heightened expenses in the quarter, while others flagged the weaker-than-expected loan growth as a source for concern.

— CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald, Tom Franck, Pippa Stevens and Jesse Pound contributed reporting.