Here’s a look at the companies making headlines in midday trading: Ally Financial – Credit challenges increased in the third quarter, particularly on auto loans for retail customers, Ally Chief Financial Officer Russell Hutchinson told an industry conference, and the bank’s shares down 17.6%. Mission Produce, Calavo Growers — The avocado producer reported a 24% year-over-year revenue increase in its fiscal third quarter, sending its shares up 21.5%. Mission Produce’s sales were $324 million, up from $261.4 million in the same period last year. Calavo Growers rose about 11% after the rival maker reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of 57 cents per share. That was above analysts’ expectations of 43 cents a share, according to FactSet. Calavo Growers also doubled its quarterly dividend to 20 cents per share. Oracle — The database software company beat first-quarter revenue and profit estimates, sending its shares soaring more than 11%. Oracle’s adjusted earnings per share were $1.39 on revenue of $13.31 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG expected earnings of $1.32 per share on revenue of $13.23 billion. Oracle also announced plans to bring its database services to Amazon Web Services as part of a strategic partnership. Boot Barn — Shares of Boot Barn rose around 10% after the Western-style retailer updated its recent results ahead of the Piper Sandler Growth Frontier conference. In the fiscal second quarter, the company’s preliminary consolidated same-store sales grew 4%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise — Technology hardware stocks fell more than 8% after HP announced plans to sell $1.35 billion in Series C mandatory convertible preferred stock. The company intends to use the net proceeds to fund its acquisition of Juniper Networks. Rubrik – Shares of the data management software company fell 1.5% despite second-quarter results beating Wall Street expectations. Rubrik posted an adjusted loss of 40 cents a share on revenue of $205 million, while analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 49 cents a share on revenue of $196.1 million. Patterson-UTI Energy – Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy fell about 3.3% after the oil and gas services provider announced it had an average of 107 rigs operating in the United States in August. Southwest Airlines, which had an average of 108 rigs operating in the two months ended Aug. 31, dropped about 1.6% after announcing a board shakeup that included the retirement of its chairman and former CEO Officer Gary Kelly next year. The changes come under pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which is seeking to oust CEO Bob Jordan and other leaders. Alibaba – U.S. stocks rose 2.9%. The Chinese e-commerce company’s Hong Kong shares have been included in the stock connect scheme linking the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. Reuters reported that the move is expected to attract investment from mainland China. JPMorgan Chase – Shares of the bank fell more than 5% after Chief Operating Officer Daniel Pinto warned at an industry conference that market expectations for 2025 net interest income were too high. —CNBC’s Brian Evans, Samantha Subin, Lisa Kailai Han, Jesse Pound and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
