Midday movers: Apple, Netflix and more

(Updated - December 18, 2023 12:03 PM EST)

Investing.com -- Main U.S. indexes climbed Monday at the start of the final full trading week of 2023, continuing the recent rally. The Dow hit an all-time high and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were close to their best levels of the year.

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

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) stock soared 27% after Japan's Nippon Steel said it would buy the steelmaker in a deal worth $14.9 billion including debt.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock fell 1.4% after Bloomberg reported that more Chinese agencies and state-backed companies have asked their staff to not bring iPhones to work. Apple also halted sales of its flagship Apple Watch models in the United States following an ITC ruling in a patent dispute with Masimo (NASDAQ:MASI).

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) stock fell 1.8% after the carrier agreed to a $140 million penalty over the December 2022 holiday meltdown that led to 16,900 flight cancellations and stranded 2 million passengers. Delta (DAL) , United (UAL), and American (AAL) were also lower, as oil prices climbed and holiday travel ramped up.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) stock rose 1.9% after the gene sequencing company said it would divest cancer diagnostic test maker Grail after difficulties from U.S. and European antitrust enforcers.

Nio (NYSE:NIO) ADRs rose 3.6% after the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer signed an agreement with CYVN Holdings, an investment vehicle based in Abu Dhabi, in which the latter agreed to invest $2.2 billion.

Wyndham Hotels&Resorts (NYSE:WH) stock rose 0.8% after the budget hotel operator asked its shareholders to reject the takeover offer from Choice Hotels (NYSE:CHH), citing a regulatory review of up to 24 months and lower valuation.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) stock rose 1% after Wolfe Research upgraded its stance on the software company to ‘outperform’ from ’peer perform’, saying the outlook for the company improved significantly.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) stock fell 2.2% after Seaport Research downgraded the streaming device maker to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’, citing valuation with its shares having risen 135% year-to-date.

PGT Innovations (NYSE:PGTI) stock rose 9% after door maker Masonite International (NYSE:DOOR), down 14.5%, said it will acquire the manufacturer and supplier of windows and doors for $3 billion in a bid to expand its business.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) climbed 2.8% after Morgan Stanley analysts raised their price target to $550.00 (from $475.00) while maintaining an Overweight rating, citing attractive risk/reward.

SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) shares crashed more than 35% after the company issued a going concern warning.

Snap (SNAP) climbed 3% after Guggenheim upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral in a research note, raising its price target for the stock to $23.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) climbed 12% after news of the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel. The company's Chairman and CEO said the deal validates his view that the sector remains undervalued by the broader market and that a multiple re-rating for Cleveland-Cliffs is long overdue.

Additional reporting by Louis Juricic