Stocks making the biggest moves midday: UnitedHealth, Applied Materials, Sandisk and more
Check out some of the companies making the biggest moves midday: UnitedHealth — The health insurer rallied 14% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed a stake of five million shares, worth about $1.6 billion. The “Big Short” investor Michael Burry and Appaloosa Management’s David Tepper also disclosed sizable stakes in the company. If the UNH gains hold through the end of the session, it will mark the stock’s best day since 2008. Applied Materials — The semiconductor equipment manufacturer plunged 13% after the company’s current-quarter outlook trailed estimates from analysts polled by LSEG. Applied Materials’ fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue topped Wall Street expectations. Intel — Intel climbed more than 3% in early trading Friday, adding to Thursday’s 7% gain. The chipmaker jumped after Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration is in talks to buy a stake in Intel , which would help fund factories Intel is building in Ohio. Cisco Systems — The networking equipment maker dropped 3% after HSBC downgraded Cisco to hold from buy and lowered its 12-month price target . The bank cited lukewarm quarterly results from Cisco earlier this week, saying that “though the company reported more than $2bn of AI infrastructure orders in FY25, strength seems to be getting offset by weakness elsewhere.” Sandisk — The data storage provider lost nearly 11% after Sandisk said fourth-quarter non-GAAP gross margin dropped to 26.4% from 36.4% a year ago. Twilio — The cloud-based communications software developer will join the S & P MidCap 400 index before the start of trading on Aug. 19, S & P Dow Jones Indices said , following the removal of Amedisys after its acquisition by UnitedHealth Group. Twilio climbed 5% Friday. Evolv Technologies — The maker of artificial intelligence-based security screening products jumped 16% after its second-quarter loss narrowed and it said the Justice Department had ended its investigation into the company. In reaction, Evolv was upgraded to buy from hold at Lake Street and reinstated as a buy at TD Cowen. Flowers Foods — The maker of Nature’s Own and Dave’s Killer Bread fell more than 4% after second-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA trailed Wall Street estimates, and it lowered the company’s full-year earnings per share guidance from a prior forecast, according to FactSet. Opendoor Technologies — The real estate company popped 10% after saying CEO and Chair Carrie Wheeler left the company. Opendoor said a “CEO succession planning process” began in mid-2025, and executive search firm Spencer Stuart is aiding in the process of hiring a new CEO. Wingstop — The chicken wing chain rose more than 4% after a Raymond James upgrade to strong buy from outperform. The investment bank pointed to Wingstop’s attractive valuation and its AI-powered Smart Kitchen systems as catalysts for the rating change. Roblox — The stock dropped more than 7% after Louisiana’s attorney general sued the video game company for allegedly enabling child predators on its platform. Target — The retailer briefly fell as much as 2.2% after Bank of America downgraded Target to underperform from neutral and trimmed its price target on the stock. Target’s long-term outlook is deteriorating as the company falls further behind its peers, the bank said. Ulta Beauty and Target also agreed to end their partnership . — CNBC’s Fred Imbert, Pia Singh, Yun Li and Sarah Min contributed reporting.
