Midday stock movers: Super Micro, Apple, Pfizer

The stock market is trading lower midday. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both lost about 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5%. The Russell 2000 Index gave up 0.7%.

S&P 500 big stock movers today

Five S&P 500 stocks making big midday moves are:

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) +15.6%
Generac Holdings (GNRC) +8.4%
Air Products and Chemicals (APD) +8%
Nvidia (NVDA) +3.2%
Fair Isaac (FICO) +2.9%

The worst-performing five S&P 500 stocks with the largest midday drop are:

Everest RE Group (RE) -8%
Arch Capital Group (ACGL) -5.8%
Deckers Outdoor (DECK) -5.1%
American Water Works (AWK) -4.8%
Garmin (GRMN) -4.6%

Stocks also worth noting include:

Apple (AAPL) -1.2%
Tesla (TSLA) -2.0%
Amazon (AMZN) -2.7%
Pfizer (PFE) +2.4%
MicroStrategy (MSTR) +7.9%

Pfizer has struggled as demand for Covid-19 treatments has slowed.
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Pfizer gains as activist investor takes stake

Pfizer shares rose 2.4% following a CNBC report that the activist investor Starboard Value has taken an about $1 billion stake in the company, aiming to drive a turnaround.

According to sources, Starboard has reached out to former Pfizer CEO Ian Read and ex-CFO Frank D’Amelio, both of whom have shown interest in supporting the effort.

While Pfizer's revenue surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, fueled by its expedited vaccine rollout, the stock has struggled as demand for Covid-19 treatments has slowed.

In May, the company launched a program to cut its costs by about $1.5 billion by the end of 2027.

Pfizer stock is down 1.1% year-to-date.

Apple falls after analyst downgrade

Apple lost 1% midday after Jefferies downgraded the stock to hold from buy with a price target of $212.92, up from $205, according to thefly.com.

The analyst likes Apple Intelligence long term and calls the company “the only hardware-software integrated player that can leverage proprietary data to offer low-cost, personalized artificial intelligence services.”

However, Jefferies cautions that expectations for the iPhone 16 and 17 are "premature," noting that AI-capable smartphone technology may still be several years away, making current projections for these models "too high."

Apple plans to launch iOS 18.1 and Apple Intelligence on Oct. 28, Bloomberg reported.

SMCI jumps after positive shipment

Super Micro surged 15% and became the top S&P 500 winner after announcing liquid cooling solution shipments.

The company said it recently deployed more than 100,000 graphics processing units with liquid cooling solutions for large AI factories. The liquid cooling solution includes coolant distribution units, cold plates, coolant distribution manifolds, cooling towers, and end-to-end management software.

More AI Stocks:

“Super Micro's ultra-dense server with dual top-bin CPUs and 8 Nvidia HGX GPUs in just 4U with liquid cooling is the ultimate AI server needed in AI factories,” the company said in a statement.

"When installed in a rack, this server quadruples the computing density, allowing organizations to run larger training models with a smaller data center footprint."

“The time to deployment and online are measured in weeks, not months." said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Super Micro.

On Aug. 28 Super Micro Computer tumbled nearly 20% after a delay in filing its annual report. A day earlier the short-selling investment firm Hindenburg Research had taken a stake in SMCI, alleging accounting improprieties. Short sellers bet that a company's stock will decline.

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