Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Ally Financial – Shares of the lender fell 17% after Ally CFO Russell Hutchinson said at an industry conference that credit challenges have increased during the third quarter, particularly with auto loans for retail customers. Mission Produce , Calavo Growers – Shares gained 20% after the avocado producer reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 24% for the fiscal third quarter. Mission Produce posted $324 million in sales, more than the $261.4 million posted in the year-ago period. Calavo Growers advanced around 12% after the rival producer reported adjusted earnings of 57 cents per share in its fiscal third quarter. That’s more than the 43 cents per share that analysts were expecting, according to FactSet. Calavo Growers also doubled its quarterly dividend to 20 cents per share. Oracle – Shares of the database software company surged more than 11% after a fiscal first-quarter beat on the top and bottom lines. Oracle notched an adjusted $1.39 per share on $13.31 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by LSEG were looking for $1.32 and $13.23 billion. Oracle also announced plans to bring its database services to Amazon Web Services as part of a strategic partnership. Boot Barn – The stock jumped more than 6% following the Western-style retailer’ s update on its recent performance ahead of the Piper Sandler Growth Frontiers Conference. For the fiscal second quarter, the company saw growth of 4% in preliminary consolidated same-store sales. Hewlett Packard Enterprise – The tech hardware stocks tumbled nearly 8% after Hewlett Packard announced plans to sell $1.35 billion in Series C mandatory convertible preferred stock. The company intends to use net proceeds to fund its acquisition of Juniper Networks. Rubrik – The data management software company shed 6%, even as second quarter results surpassed Wall Street’s estimates. Rubrik reported an adjusted loss of 40 cents per share on revenue of $205.0 million, while analysts polled by FactSet sought a loss of 49 cents per share and revenue of $196.1 million. Patterson-UTI Energy – Shares fell around 4% after the oil and gas service provider announced that it had an average of 107 rigs operating in the U.S. in August. For the two-month period ended Aug. 31, the company had an average of 108 drilling rigs operating in the U.S. Southwest Airlines – The airline stock sank nearly 4% following the announcement of a board shake-up that includes the retirement of executive chairman and former CEO Gary Kelly next year. The changes came amid pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which is seeking to oust CEO Bob Jordan and other leaders. Alibaba – U.S. shares rose around 2%. The China-based e-commerce company’s Hong Kong shares were added to the stock connect programs that link the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. Reuters reported that the move is expected to attract investments from mainland China. JPMorgan – The bank stock fell 7% after chief operating officer Daniel Pinto cautioned at an industry conference that market expectations for net interest income in 2025 are too high. — CNBC’s Brian Evans, Samantha Subin, Lisa Kailai Han, Jesse Pound and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
