Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Hilton, Yum Brands, Tesla and more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Zoom Video — Shares of the teleconferencing company jumped 4% after KeyBanc upgraded the stock to overweight from sector weight. The investment firm said in a note that the shift to hybrid work should create more demand for Zoom from corporate clients.

Uber — Shares of the ride-hailing company fell 3% after CNBC reported SoftBank is selling about one-third of its Uber stake, in part to cover losses on its investment in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi. It’s planning to sell 45 million shares, which will have a 30-day lock-up.

Didi — The Chinese ride-hailing company saw its shares jump more than 11% after it denied a Wall Street Journal report that said it could go private amid scrutiny from Chinese regulators. Didi went public on the New York Stock Exchange in June, and the stock’s price has trended downward since Chinese authorities announced a cybersecurity review of the business.

Yum Brands — Shares of Yum Brands added roughly 6% after the company’s second-quarter earnings report beat Wall Street expectations. The company reported earnings of $1.16 per share on revenue of $1.6 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 96 cents per share on revenue of $1.48 billion. Same-store sales increased at all three of its major brands: Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

Qualcomm — The semiconductor and telecoms company’s stock jumped 6% after reporting earnings Wednesday night. It reported $1.92 per share, beating the consensus estimate by 24 cents. It also beat revenue estimates and gave an upbeat forecast. Morgan Stanley confirmed its overweight rating on the stock Thursday saying it sees “surprising” upside in chipsets.

PayPal — PayPal shares are down more than 6%, despite beating analysts’ estimates by 3 cents, at $1.15 per share, in its second-quarter earnings report Wednesday evening. The payments giant gave a lower-than-expected outlook and noted that eBay is transitioning off PayPal to its own payment platform.

Hilton — The hotel brand’s shares rose 3.5% after the company reported quarterly earnings of 56 cents per share, which beat analysts’ estimates by 16 cents. Hilton said it expects leisure and business travel demand to increase in the back half of the year.

Northrop Grumman — Shares of the aerospace and defense company rose 1.5% following its earnings report, which showed $6.42 per share, 58 cents higher than analysts’ projections, for the second quarter. The company also beat on revenue and raised its full year guidance.

Facebook — The social media giant’s stock fell 4% after it warned that its revenue growth could slow in the near term. The company beat expectations on the top and bottom lines for its second-quarter report, but its user metrics came in near Wall Street projections.

Ford Motor — Shares of the automobile company jumped more than 3.5% after Ford raised its 2021 outlook after reporting a surprise profit in the second quarter. However, its revenue slightly missed expectations due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips, which continues to disrupt the automaker’s production.

Tesla — Tesla shares jumped 4.5% after Morgan Stanley kept its overweight rating on the company and said its second-quarter results may be bearish for the auto industry as a whole. Even though it may “take several years to play out,” it’s prepared to see the electric vehicle maker price different products as low as $20,000 or even $10,000 “this decade.”

— CNBC’s Hannah Miao, Yun Li and Jesse Pound contributed reporting