Take a look at the companies making headlines in midday trading. JPMorgan Chase & Co. – Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. fell 5% after the bank disclosed that its 2024 net interest income levels may be lower than Wall Street analysts expected, despite beating both top-line and bottom-line forecasts last quarter. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon also highlighted the dangers of inflationary pressures. Wells Fargo — Shares of Wells Fargo fell less than 1% after the bank reported a drop in first-quarter net interest income. Wells Fargo’s first-quarter adjusted profit and revenue did beat analysts’ expectations. BlackRock — BlackRock shares fell nearly 2%. The asset manager reported total net inflows below expectations, according to StreetAccount. BlackRock reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $9.81 per share on revenue of $4.73 billion, above the $9.35 per share on revenue of $4.68 billion forecast by analysts surveyed by LSEG (formerly Refinitiv). Globe Life – The life insurance stock rebounded 10% after plunging more than 50% in Thursday trading. The drop was triggered by a report from Fuzzy Panda Research in which the firm disclosed a short position in the stock and raised charges of insurance fraud. Paramount — Shares of Paramount fell nearly 2% after the entertainment company revealed plans to reduce its board of directors from 11 to seven members. Paramount is currently in merger talks with Skydance Media. Corteva — Agrichemical stocks fell 3.8% after JPMorgan downgraded the agrichemical stock to neutral from overweight. The company said it wasn’t worth buying the stock ahead of its first-quarter earnings report, given the expected weakness. Ciena — Shares of Ciena fell nearly 3% after Citigroup gave the software company a sell rating. The bank said investors were overly optimistic about the potential boost of artificial intelligence, which was further away than they expected. Shares of Zoetis, the pet drug company, fell more than 7%. The drop comes after The Wall Street Journal published a report investigating potential side effects of Zoetis arthritis drugs Librela and Solensia. Arista Networks — Shares fell 9% after Rosenblatt downgraded the stock to sell from buy. The company warned that Arista’s AI opportunities may be smaller than expected. —CNBC’s Michelle Fox, Alex Harlin, Tanaya Machel and Pia Singh contributed reporting.
