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Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading Friday.
Ambac Financial Group – Shares of the municipal bond insurer shot up 13.2% on news of settlements with Bank of America that would bring Ambac $1.84 billion. The settlements come out of lawsuits related to the bond insurance policies Ambac used for Bank of America prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Bank of America was down about 2.4%.
Levi Strauss – Levi’s dropped 9.3% after cutting its full-year sales and profit outlook Thursday, as the clothing maker cited issues stemming from the supply chain and the stronger U.S. dollar.
DraftKings – Shares of DraftKings rose 1% on a Bloomberg report that the online sports betting company is close to a partnership deal with ESPN.
Lyft – The rideshare company slid 7.9% after RBC downgraded the stock to sector perform from outperform. RBC said competitor Uber, which was down about 4.5%, had “structural advantages.”
CVS Health – Shares of CVS dropped 11.3% following a report that the health care giant is in “exclusive talks” to buy Cano Health. The company had already been falling after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services downgraded one of its Aetna Medicare Advantage plans in its annual ratings. Shares of Cano gained 9%.
Tesla, Twitter – The two businesses continued to move following a week of news on Elon Musk reviving his high-profile plans to purchase Twitter. Tesla fell 6.1%, while Twitter lost 0.2%. On Thursday, a judge said Musk needs to complete his purchase by Oct. 28 to avoid a trial.
Credit Suisse – The European bank was up 10.8% after offering to buy back $3 billion in debt securities Friday and sell a famous hotel it owns. It marks another day of tumult for shares of the stock — which hit an all-time low earlier in the week — as market observers questioned the bank’s health.
DexCom – Shares of the manufacturer of glucose monitoring devices jumped 9% after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updated a local coverage determination related to such devices. The move could boost the bottom line for DexCom, a key player in the continuous glucose monitoring space.
Apple – The tech giant was down 3.5% despite Morgan Stanley reiterating the stock as overweight, noting elevated lead times for the iPhone. People following the company have raised concern over the performance of the new line of iPhones compared to previous rollouts as Apple yanked plans to increase production.
Meta – The Facebook owner also slid 3% despite being reiterated as a buy by Citi, which noted an appealing risk/reward outlook as Reels revenue increases and new ad formats come into play.
Cannabis companies – Shares of cannabis companies were all down, after initially soaring on news that President Joe Biden wants a review of how marijuana is classified under federal law. Biden also announced he’ll pardon thousands convicted of marijuana possession. Tilray Brands, which reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, was down 16%. Canopy Growth plunged more than 22%, Aurora Cannabis fell 11% and Cronos Group lost 10%.
Advanced Micro Devices – Shares of Advanced Micro Devices plummeted 11.2% after the semiconductor company issued disappointing preliminary results for the third quarter and said it expects revenue to fall short of its previous $6.7 billion dollar forecast. AMD blamed the shortfall on weakening PC demand and supply chain constraints. Shares of other chip companies including Intel and Nvidia fell on the news.
Unity Software – Shares of Unity, which is known for its software for three-dimensional design, dropped 8.3%. It contrasts with Needham earlier Friday initiating the stock as a buy with an upside of 39%.
Provention – Shares of the biopharmaceutical company leaped 11.8%, continuing to rally on news Thursday of plans to launch a drug candidate for type 1 diabetes.
— CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Michelle Fox, Carmen Reinicke, Tanaya Macheel and Yun Li contributed reporting.