Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Walmart, Snowflake, Fisker and more

A banner for Snowflake is displayed on its IPO day at the New York Stock Exchange on September 16, 2020. It was the largest software IPO in history and was one of eight CNBC 2020 Disruptor 50 companies to go public, and more Disruptor deals are coming soon.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Walmart — Shares of the big box retailer rose about 2.5% after Walmart reported first-quarter earnings that surged past Wall Street's estimates. Walmart reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.69, versus $1.21 expected per Refinitiv. The company reported strong grocery sales and e-commerce growth and raised its outlook for the year.

Snowflake — Snowflake jumped more than 6% following a bullish call from Rosenblatt Securities. The firm upgraded the data storage company to a buy rating ahead of Snowflake's quarterly report on May 26. "Snowflake … is uniquely positioned as the leading independent Cloud data platform provider that should continue to grow rapidly as enterprises shift more of their IT workloads to the cloud," the firm said.

Fisker — Fisker shares rose just shy of 10% in midday trading after the electric-vehicle company announced an agreement to deliver up to 700 cars to Onto, a U.K.-based EV subscription service. Fisker equity had come under pressure in extended trading Monday evening after it reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss.

MGM Resorts — The casino stock jumped more than 4% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral. The investment firm said in a note to clients that foot traffic in Las Vegas was increasing and the rebound should continue later in the year as restrictions are further lifted.

Palo Alto Networks — The cybersecurity company's shares advanced more than 2% after Raymond James upgraded the stock to an outperform rating. The firm said that while the stock has "underperformed significantly" this year, the company can "enter into a period of healthy growth and incremental profitability that are hallmarks of outperforming stocks in this space." Raymond James also established a $400 price target, which is 19% above where shares closed on Monday.

Twilio — Twilio rose 3% on news that it plans to acquire business-texting platform Zipwhip for $850 million in a blend of cash and stock. Stifel analyst J. Parker Lane said the deal will leverage Zipwhip to text-enable landlines and toll-free telephone numbers.

Baidu — Shares of Baidu rose more than 1% in midday trading after reporting better-than-expected earnings. Baidu made 28.13 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) in revenue during the first quarter, up 25% from the year-ago period.

Altice USA — The cable television provider's shares fell about 1% after Bank of America downgraded the stock from "neutral" to "underperform" Tuesday. Bank of America said it saw stronger opportunities elsewhere in its coverage.

Home Depot — Shares of Home Depot ticked nearly 1% lower in midday trading despite beating on the top and bottom lines of its quarterly results. The home improvement retailer earned $3.86 per share on revenue of $37.5 billon. Analysts expected earnings of $3.08 per share on revenue of $34.96 billion, according to Refinitiv. Same-store sales topped estimates as well. Home Depot, however, did not provide guidance.

Hostess Brands — The food company's share price ticked 1.6% higher after Stephens reiterated the stocks as overweight. Stephens said it should benefit from the economy reopening.

Macy's — Shares of the department store crept up 0.1% following a surprise first-quarter profit. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of 39 cents compared to a loss of 41 cents expected per Refinitiv. Macy's also raised its full-year forecast, saying it's seeing momentum as consumers head to its shops and go online to buy new outfits for weddings, travel and other special occasions.

— with reporting from CNBC's Yun Li, Pippa Stevens, Tom Franck, Hannah Miao and Jesse Pound.

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