As Wall Street generally looks ahead to a Federal Reserve decision due out later this week, analyst commentary provided a critical catalyst for individual stocks in Monday's midday action. Under Armour ( NYSE: UAA ) ( UA ) was among the beneficiaries of an analyst upgrade, rising in intraday trading.
Elsewhere, monday.com ( MNDY ) also saw buying interest after receiving a bullish note from J.P. Morgan. On the other side of the spectrum, Leggett & Platt ( LEG ) dropped on a downgrade.
In other news, Rivian ( RIVN ) retreated after pulling out of a planned production collaboration with Mercedes-Benz AG ( OTCPK:MBGYY ).
Decliners
Rivian ( RIVN ) lost ground in midday trading after the company decided to walk away from plans to build electric vans in Europe in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz AG ( OTCPK:MBGYY ). The companies had signed a memorandum of understanding in September that would have called for them to share costs and scale up production.
RIVN, which characterized the decision as a "pause" in its partnership discussions with Mercedes-Benz, said it will "prioritize its current consumer product development roadmap and manufacturing capacity expansion as well as its commercial business." On the news, RIVN slipped about 5%.
Meanwhile, an analyst downgrade prompted selling in Leggett & Platt ( LEG ), with shares falling about 5% in midday trading. Piper Sandler lowered its rating on the stock to Underweight from Neutral, citing market share losses and normalization of margins.
Gainers
Under Armour ( UAA ) ( UA ) received a boost after Stifel issued a bullish take for the athletic apparel maker. Analyst Jim Duffy raised his rating on the stock to Buy from Hold , sparking an 8% increase in the firm's stock during midday action.
"Relative inventory management discipline leaves Under Armour with better margin certainty and in a better position to bring newness to market in CY23 and we expect systematic risk from an inventory glut of larger competitors clears by [the second half of 2023]," Duffy wrote.
Analyst commentary also drove interest in monday.com ( MNDY ), rising more than 5%. J.P. Morgan raised its rating on the maker of workflow management software to Overweight from Neutral .
Analyst Pinjalim Bora pointed to positive channel checks to support the upgrade. This has led to an attractive risk-reward balance for investors, Bora said.
For more of Monday's best- and worst-performing stocks, head over to Seeking Alpha's On The Move section .
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Hot Stocks: UAA, MNDY rise on analyst upgrades; LEG dips on downgrade; RIVN falls