Midday movers: Tesla, Apple, Hostess Brands and more

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were rising on Monday, led by tech stocks as investors awaited a fresh inflation data that could guide future Federal Reserve monetary action.

Here are some of the biggest U.S. stock movers today:

• Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock rose 9.4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded its stance on the electric vehicle manufacturer to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal weight’, calling it a top pick as its dedicated supercomputer, Dojo, can add up to $500B to the company's enterprise value.

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock rose 0.6%, rebounding from last week’s near 6% decline on China's restrictions of iPhone usage for government officials, ahead of Tuesday’s new product launch, which is expected to reveal the new iPhone.

• Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) ADRs fell 1.1% after the Chinese e-commerce giant said that outgoing chief executive Daniel Zhang will also step down as the head of its cloud unit. This was an unexpected move as Zhang was set to lead Alibaba’s cloud unit as the company embarks on a six-way split in the coming months.

• Hostess Brands (NASDAQ:TWNK) stock rose over 19% after Jif peanut butter maker JM Smucker (NYSE:SJM) struck a deal with the owner of Twinkies snack cakes for close to $5 billion.

• Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) stock rose 4% after the chipmaker announced Monday it had signed a new deal with Apple to supply 5G chips to the iPhone maker until at least 2026.

• Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) stock rose 2.3% after the WSJ reported that the Facebook parent is working on a new artificial-intelligence system intended to be as powerful as the most advanced model offered by OpenAI.

• Brunswick (NYSE:BC) stock fell 1.7% after JPMorgan downgraded the recreational boat manufacturer to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’, highlighting concerns about high interest rates affecting consumer demand and excess inventory.

• Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) stock rose 3.2% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) spinoff to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, saying it can rebound by more than 25% in the short term.