US markets have opened in the green on Friday, with investors hoping for a positive end to what has been a week of unbridled chaos. Inflation concerns have been driving the madness over the last few days and yesterday saw Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicate that further interest rate hikes are on the menu in June and July.
Oil and Bitcoin prices are both higher this morning, while gold prices are in the red.
Here are today’s trending stocks:
Twitter (NYSE: TWTR)
Shares in this social media giant stumbled on Friday after a spanner was thrown in the works of Elon Musk’s takeover bid. The South African billionaire has put the deal on ice as he clarifies the proportion of spam or bot accounts active on the platform.
He asserted that he had been informed that these profiles make up less than 5% of Twitter users, but analysts have expressed concern that if the true number is larger then Musk could seek to back out of the deal or reduce the price.
However, Musk has tweeted that he is "still committed to acquisition".
The social media platform’s share price declined by nearly 10% in early trading on Friday.
Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ: AFRM)
Buy-now, pay-later business Affirm Holdings is buoyant on Friday after its first quarter earnings showed the business did a better job of keeping losses under control than analysts had anticipated.
Losses came in at 19 cents per share for the period, well below the 51 cents loss that had been expected for the three-month period.
Explaining the company’s strong performance, founder and CEO, Max Levchin, commented:
"We continue to deliver strong growth with attractive unit economics as we rapidly scale our network. The number of active merchants on our platform grew from 12,000 to 207,000 year over year, and active consumers increased 137% to 12.7 million people.”
The stock has rocketed by almost 30% in this morning’s session.
FIGS Inc (NYSE: FIGS)
This healthcare apparel outfit has tanked on Friday, with its share price tumbling by more than 23% in early trading. The dramatic fall comes after the business’ first quarter earnings fell well short of expectations.
FIGS’s revenue of $110.1m and EPS of 5 cents per share were both significantly behind their anticipated level, while the company also took the trimmers to its guidance. Full-year revenue had been slated to come in between $550m and $560m, but FIGS now sees the figure sitting at between $510m and $530m.
The company cited supply chain issues and other macroeconomic factors as the reason for this downgrade. Co-CEO and co-founder Trina Spear commented:
“Our results, while below our expectations, are a testament to the powerful combination of our unique business model and the largely non-discretionary and replenishment nature of our workwear products. Looking ahead, we are well positioned to fuel profitable growth for the years to come due to our strong foundation, recession resistant industry and deep understanding of the healthcare community.”
Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD)
The stock trading platform has seen its own share price leap on Friday. The move came after the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, confirmed that he holds a 7.6% stake in Robinhood. He is now the third largest shareholder of the company.
The crypto whizz, who is reportedly worth as much as $21bn according to Forbes, indicated that he did not have any intention of influencing the control of Robinhood. However, optimistic investors might be hoping that he can help the platform to build a thriving crypto arm.
The company’s share price had climbed by upwards of 20% in early morning trading.
Polarityte Inc (NASDAQ: PTE)
This Utah-based pharma outfit is riding a wave of good news this morning. The company announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted a Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designation to its first regenerative tissue product, SkinTE.
This designation is designed to expedite the drug’s development process, as it brings benefit such as intensive FDA guidance on efficient drug development. This includes the ability for early interactions with the FDA to discuss potential ways to support accelerated approval and satisfy post-approval requirements.
Polarityte’s share price rocketed by more than 70% after the opening bell.
