Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Crypto stocks – Stocks tied to crypto prices jumped amid reports that President-elect Donald Trump could release an executive order making crypto a national priority as soon as the first day of his new term. Shares of crypto exchange operators Coinbase and Robinhood advanced 4.9% and 4.5%, respectively. Trading activity in small cap cryptocurrencies benefits trading platforms. Bitcoin proxies MicroStrategy and Mara Holdings gained 8% and 8.8%, respectively. Novo Nordisk — Shares slipped 5.3% after the company’s semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in the its diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus and its obesity treatment Wegovy, landed on a list of drugs that will be included in Medicare’s next round of price negotiations . Qorvo – Shares gained 14.4% after activist investor Starboard Value disclosed a 7.7% stake in Qorvo and is seeking changes to improve the company’s share price. Vistra — The energy company’s stock shed 1.8% after a major fire erupted at its battery-storage facility in Northern California and led to the evacuation of nearby residents. MoonLake Immunotherapeutics — The biopharma stock added 5.6% following an upgrade to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs. Analyst Richard Law said that the company’s experimental treatment for a chronic skin condition, SLK, could “potentially deliver best-in-class results.” Lam Research , Applied Materials — The semiconductor equipment stocks rose 1.4% and 3%, respectively, after KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded both companies to overweight from sector weight. Lam Research and Applied Materials have exposure to artificial intelligence-related devices that should lead their stocks higher, the firm said. J.B. Hunt — The transport stock fell 7.4% after a fourth-quarter earnings miss. J.B. Hunt generated $1.53 in earnings per share, while analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for $1.61. The company reported that revenue declined year over year in each of its major business segments. Fastenal — Shares of the fastener distributor added 1.8% even though the company missed fourth-quarter expectations due to ongoing manufacturing-related challenges. Fastenal earned 46 cents per share on revenue of $1.82 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet were expecting 48 cents per share on $1.84 billion in revenue. The company did see higher unit sales during the quarter amid growth at locations opened in the past two years. Life360 — The location-sharing app’s stock rallied 6.9% after UBS upgraded it to buy from neutral , citing more confidence in the company’s midterm ad revenue opportunity. Intel — Shares of the chipmaker popped by roughly 9.3% as the beaten-up chipmaker continues to be a part of takeover speculation following the departure of its CEO in December. The stock, which was booted from the Dow in November, is still down more than 50% in the last 12 months. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Sean Conlon, Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel, Samantha Subin, Lisa Han and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
