Major Midday Stock Movers: Nvidia, Salesforce, and Okta Lead Earnings-Driven Surges

Nvidia surged 9% after its second-quarter revenue and earnings beat expectations. The AI and infrastructure leader reported that revenue in the latest quarter more than doubled. Nvidia earned $2.22 per share on an adjusted basis, with revenue of $96.22 billion, surpassing LSEG consensus estimates of $2.10 per share and $92.17 billion in revenue. The company expects third-quarter revenue to rise to $108 billion, exceeding expectations. Veeva Systems jumped 16% after the life sciences cloud company reported that second-quarter revenue and earnings topped analysts’ estimates, along with upbeat guidance for the current quarter and full year. The company anticipates adjusted earnings of $2.33 to $2.34 per share on revenue of $932 million to $935 million in the third quarter, versus the FactSet consensus call for $2.28 per share and $918.1 million. HP dropped 4% despite posting fiscal third-quarter revenue that beat the Street and full-year earnings guidance that was above expectations. Wall Street analysts expressed misgivings due to expanding memory chip costs, questions over demand as product prices rise, and continued pressure on profit margins, StreetAccount said. Moderna tumbled 4% after proposing a private placement sale of $2 billion in convertible senior notes. Celsius Holdings fell almost 6% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the energy drink maker to hold from buy, saying “fundamental challenges have continued to mount.” Analysts noted that “rather than stabilizing as expected, core Celsius trends further weakened through 2Q26, revenue and profitability missed expectations, and management pushed out the timing of a meaningful recovery to FY27.” Dollar General jumped 5% after raising full-year earnings guidance. The company now sees profit between $7.80 and $8 per share, up from a previous range of $7.20 to $7.45 per share. Dollar General also said it “intends to repurchase shares under its existing share repurchase program in the second half of the fiscal year ending January 29, 2027.” Dollar Tree dropped more than 2%, but remains about 33% higher over the past three months. Second-quarter earnings largely beat expectations, but third-quarter guidance was disappointing, and management mentioned growing pressure on profit margins in the second half, StreetAccount said. Burlington Stores slid 6%. Second-quarter total sales and same-store sales lagged expectations, and the New Jersey-based retail chain guided third-quarter earnings per share and same-store sales below Wall Street estimates, according to StreetAccount. Best Buy fell 4% after second-quarter earnings and revenue topped Wall Street estimates and it raised fiscal 2027 revenue, earnings, and same-store sales guidance, according to FactSet’s StreetAccount service. Analysts were cautious on the outlook because of little changed profit margins excluding the effect of tariff refunds. Even after the Thursday decline, Best Buy shares are almost 30% higher over the past three months. Wendy’s fell 13% after Reuters reported that Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management does not plan to buy the company because of concerns about Wendy’s strategic direction. Peltz was previously planning a bid to take the company private earlier this month, according to the Financial Times. Salesforce soared 21% after second-quarter results beat analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share beat an LSEG estimate of $3.27 per share. Okta shares increased by more than 27% after second-quarter results exceeded analyst expectations. Okta reported adjusted earnings of $1.05 per share on revenue of $805 million for the quarter, above the 97 cents per share and $795 million in revenue that analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected. Okta also raised earnings and revenue guidance for the full year. CrowdStrike shares increased almost 19% after the global cybersecurity company’s second-quarter results beat the Street consensus on revenue and earnings per share. Full-year earnings guidance also topped estimates. Hormel Foods tumbled 9%. Full-year guidance failed to impress the Street, with Hormel calling for earnings of $1.45 to $1.51 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $12.1 billion to $12.2 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet estimated $1.50 per share on $12.24 billion. Everpure slid 7%. Fiscal second-quarter results showed a non-GAAP gross margin of 69.9% against Street estimates of 70.7%, and negative cash from operations and free cash flow compared with both consensus analyst forecasts and year-ago numbers, StreetAccount said.

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