Midday movers: Target, J.C. Penney, GM

Stocks pare earlier gains as investors await FOMC minutes.

By MSN Money Partner May 16, 2012 12:43PM
Information provided by Theflyonthewall.com

Target (TGT) shares rose after its "beat and raise" earnings report, but two other prominent retailers plunged following their reports.

J.C. Penney (JCP) slid 16% after suspending its dividend and reporting its same store sales fell 18.9% during the first quarter, while shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) dropped over 13% after the company's same-store sales declined 5% and its revenues missed expectations.

General Motors (GM) jumped more than 3% after Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) disclosed a new position in the automaker. Facebook boosted the size of its initial public offering by 25% to 421 million shares, not including the more than 60 million additional shares that could be sold to cover excess demand.

Among the notable gainers Wednesday were OraSure (OSUR), up nearly 19%, after an FDA panel recommended that it in-home HIV test should be approved, and Sina (SINA), up almost 14%, after its revenue beat consensus and its losses were not as steep as expected.

Noteworthy losers included Staples (SPLS), down about 6%, after its earnings missed estimates and the company said it expects no net store growth in North America this year, and Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA), down 6%, following its secondary offering of 11 million shares.
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