Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Autodesk — Shares of the design software maker rose nearly 4% after Starboard Value said it is preparing to wage a proxy fight and intends to nominate a minority slate of director candidates ahead of the company’s upcoming annual meeting. MicroStrategy — The company, which is now going by Strategy, rose 5.2%. A day earlier, it said it was issuing more securities to fund cryptocurrency purchases. The company is the largest corporate holder of bitcoin. Boeing — The aerospace giant saw its shares pop 6.3% after Chief Financial Officer Brian West gave upbeat commentary at an investor conference, saying Boeing’s cash burn is easing this quarter and its factories are improving. West also brushed off concerns about Trump’s tariffs, but said that any impact depends on how long the uncertainty lasts. Gilead Sciences — Shares of the biopharmaceutical company fell 2.9% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Health and Human Services Department is considering plans to slash the federal government’s funding for domestic HIV prevention. Gilead sells medicines for HIV and AIDS. HealthEquity — The health-focused financial technology firm dove 18% following fourth-quarter earnings that missed expectations. HealthEquity earned 69 cents per share on a non-GAAP basis, while analysts polled by FactSet anticipated 72 cents per share. Williams-Sonoma — The home furnishings stock slid 6.3% after the company said net revenue could decline in the coming year. Williams-Sonoma guided for a net revenue change of -1.5% to 1.5% for its new fiscal year, citing the fact that it will be a 52-week period as opposed to 53 weeks for the prior year. The company also disclosed an accounting adjustment related to overstating freight expenses in prior years. Nvidia — Shares of the chipmaker climbed 1.8%, following its more than 3% loss on Tuesday, after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang downplayed the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and said that in the near term, the “impact of tariffs won’t be meaningful.” General Mills — The processed food stock shed more than 2% after General Mills reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $4.84 billion, which came below the $4.96 billion expected by analysts, per FactSet. The company pointed to softer demand and inventory headwinds as reasons for the miss. General Mills also guided for organic net sales falling between 1.5% and 2% in the full year, while it had previously estimated that sales would come in flat or rise 1%. Tesla — Shares of the electric vehicle maker jumped 4.2% after Tesla received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission for a passenger transportation permit. Tesla applied for the permit to offer ride-hailing services, which could eventually lead to it providing robotaxi services, according to a Bloomberg report. On top of that, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded the stock to overweight. Intel — The stock dropped more than 5% and was the worst performer in the S & P 500 on the day. Still, shares remain higher by more than 18% over the past year. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Yun Li, Lisa Han and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
