Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday: Apple – Shares of the iPad maker jumped nearly 3%, sparking a rebound in the Nasdaq Composite. The rise came after Bank of America upgraded Apple to buy from neutral. The bank pointed to a stronger multi-year iPhone upgrade cycle as well as higher growth in services as Apple works to better monetize its installed customer base. Humana – Shares fell 11.8% after the health insurer said in a statement that it faced higher-than-expected medical costs in the fourth quarter, which could also impact its outlook for 2024. Humana also said it believes emerging trends are impacting the industry more broadly. UnitedHealth shares fell about 3%, while CVS Health lost about 5%. MDC Holdings – The homebuilder's stock rose more than 18% after Japanese homebuilder Sekisui House reached a $4.95 billion deal to buy MDC. Sekisui House will pay $63 per share in cash, roughly 19% above MDC's closing price on Wednesday. Taiwan Semiconductor Industry – Shares of the US-listed semiconductor company rose more than 7% on the back of fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat. Taiwan Semi also said it expects 2024 to be a “healthy growth year.” Shares of some of the company's major customers also rose, with Nvidia, Apple, Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices each rising at least 2%. Hertz – The stock jumped 7.5% after it was upgraded to overweight by Morgan Stanley. The investment bank said the car rental company's decision to sell about 20,000 electric cars from its fleet would help boost inventory. Spirit Airlines – Shares fell another 30% as fallout from the budget airline's proposed merger with JetBlue continued to weigh on the stock. Spirit, which was down 60% in the first three trading days of the week, was also downgraded by Citi on Thursday to sell from neutral. Fastenal – Shares jumped 6% after the distribution giant beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter. Fastenal earned 46 cents per share on revenue of $1.76 billion, while analysts polled by StreetAccount expected 45 cents per share on revenue of $1.75 billion. Fastenal said it got a boost to unit sales from growth in on-site locations as well as currency tailwinds. First Horizon – The regional bank added nearly 4% after First Horizon beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations. Adjusted earnings per share were 32 cents, versus the 27 cents expected from analysts surveyed by StreetAccount. Net interest income and net interest margins were also higher than expected. Discover Financial Services – Shares fell nearly 11% after the financial services company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.54 on the Post Market on Wednesday, beating estimates of $2.50 per LSEG. Birkenstock – The German footwear company fell 9.3% after warning that full-year profits will come under pressure as it seeks global expansion. This was Birkenstock's first earnings report as a public company. KeyCorp – The Cleveland-based bank fell 5.3% after reporting fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 3 cents, down from 38 cents a year earlier. Net interest income also fell year-over-year, to $928 million from $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Microchip Technology – The technology maker added nearly 3% after it was upgraded to outperform peers by Wolfe Research. The company said a lot was done to de-risk the stock ahead of the fiscal third-quarter earnings report. Plug Power – Shares of the struggling fuel cell company fell 15% after Morgan Stanley maintained its Underweight rating and $3 price target. Morgan Stanley said Plug would need to use a significant amount of the $1 billion market equity program it announced after the market closed on Thursday. Grab Holdings – Shares rose 3% after JPMorgan upgraded the Singapore-based ride-hailing and food delivery app to Overweight. As catalysts for the upgrade, the bank highlighted attractive valuation and improving delivery margins. Kinder Morgan – Kinder Morgan shares fell 2% after the natural gas pipeline operator reported fourth-quarter revenue of $4.04 billion, beating LSEG estimates of $4.41 billion. — CNBC's Lisa Hahn, Samantha Sobin, Alex Haring, Yun Li, Pia Singh and Sarah Min contributed reporting.
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