Midday movers: Apple climbs, Humana slumps, and more

(Updated - January 18, 2024 11:45 AM EST)

Investing.com -- Main U.S. indexes were mixed Thursday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 lifted by strength in chip stocks and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), while the Dow treaded water due to weakness in health insurers.

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

Apple (AAPL) stock rose 3.3% after Bank of America upgraded its stance on the tech giant to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’, expecting the upcoming launch of Vision Pro next month, as well as AI-powered iPhone, to drive future growth.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) stock fell 8.5% after the financial services company reported a steep decline in fourth-quarter net income due in part to higher compliance-related expenses.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) stock fell 11.6% after the health insurer lowered its earnings per share forecast for 2023 due to an additional increase in medical cost trends. Peers UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), Elevance Health (ELV) and CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) also declined.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) stock rose 8.2% after the world's largest contract chipmaker logged a smaller-than-expected decline in its fourth-quarter profit as revenue was buoyed by increased sales of its most advanced chips. Other semiconductor stocks including NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) climbed.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) stock slumped over 12% after the fuel-cell company disclosed in an SEC filing late Wednesday that it will sell up to $1 billion in shares.

Hertz (HTZ) stock rose 9% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’. The upgrade was tied to improving risk-reward following a sharp selloff.

Birkenstock Holding (NYSE:BIRK) stock declined 9% after it reported fourth quarter results and issued guidance for 2024. The footwear company's forecast was decent, but it was seen as muted relative to elevated Wall Street expectations.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) stock fell 5.4% after the financial services company reported results for its fourth quarter and guidance for 2024 net interest income that trailed estimates.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) stock rose 6.5% after it reported fourth quarter earnings per share that topped estimates on higher margins and an increase in net sales.

Additional reporting by Louis Juricic