FRC - Hot Stocks: PATH SIG PD rises on earnings; INTC QCOM SWKS upgraded at Susquehanna FRC HALO ESPR slide

2023-03-16 11:43:48 ET

Banking crisis in the U.S. and Europe continues to weigh on the major indexes during Thursday's intraday session.

In terms of individual stocks, UiPath ( NYSE: PATH ), Signet Jewelers ( NYSE: SIG ) and PagerDuty ( NYSE: PD ) gained momentum on upbeat Q4 earnings results.

In the meantime, upgrades at Susquehanna boosted the value of the chip companies Intel ( NASDAQ: INTC ), Qualcomm ( NASDAQ: QCOM ) and Skyworks Solutions ( NASDAQ: SWKS ).

Among notable decliners, First Republic Bank ( NYSE: FRC ) slipped after Fitch Ratings downgraded the stock. Pharma stocks, Halozyme ( NASDAQ: HALO ) and Esperion Therapeutics ( NASDAQ: ESPR ) also saw a significant decline.

Gainers

UiPath ( PATH ) shares jumped above 17% after Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets upgraded the automation software company to buy from hold on upbeat Q4 earnings and guidance . Canaccord raised the price target to $19 from $14.50.

Signet Jewelers ( SIG ) rose about 10% after reporting strong Q4 results and outlook . The company expects FY adjusted EPS in the range of $11.07 to $11.58 vs. consensus of $10.68.

PagerDuty ( PD ) climbed ~16% after topping consensus in Q4 and strong outlook . The company expects total revenue between $102M to $104M (+19% to +22% Y/Y) and Non-GAAP EPS in the range of $0.09 to $0.10 for 1Q24.

Concurrently, the 3 chip stocks rallied after Susquehanna analysts upgraded Intel ( INTC ) +4.5% to neutral from negative with PT of $26, Qualcomm ( QCOM ) +3.7% and Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) +2.1% to positive from neutral with price targets of $140, and $135.

"We believe the acute portion of the semiconductor downcycle for the handset, PC and Consumer end markets has past. Industrial and Auto semis yet to correct," the analysts  Christopher Rolland stated in a note.

Decliners

Amid evaluating strategic options , including a potential sale, First Republic Bank ( FRC ) dropped more than 28% after Fitch Ratings downgraded the stock and put the bank on negative rating watch.

Halozyme ( HALO ) stocks plunged more than 5%. "Today's decision in Europe on a single co-formulation patent has no impact on our current full year 2023 revenue guidance. Janssen will continue to pay royalties to Halozyme on U.S. and European sales of DARZALEX FASPRO and SC, in line with our total royalty revenue projection of approximately $1 billion by 2027, and thereafter to at least 2030," said Halozyme President and CEO Helen Torley.

Esperion Therapeutics ( ESPR ) lost more than half of its value after Daiichi ( OTCPK:DSNKY ) disagreed with milestone payments for BA, as its CLEAR Outcomes trial failed to meet the primary endpoint. This led Bank of America to downgrade the stock.

To keep track of Wall Street's biggest winners and losers throughout the session, head over to Seeking Alpha's On The Move section .

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