ORCL, WRK, AAPL, AAP and more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Oracle — Shares dipped more than 12% a day after the software company posted disappointing earnings and revenue guidance for its fiscal second quarter. Oracle’s revenue, which came in at $12.45 billion, was weaker than the $12.47 billion forecast by analysts. Its forward guidance of 5% to 7% revenue growth in the second quarter also fell short of the 8% implied growth expected by analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv.

WestRock — The stock rose 4.8% following news that the paper and packaging company will go through with a merger with Smurfit Kappa. Shares of Smurfit Kappa traded on the FTSE 100 tumbled 9.8%.

Apple — Shares lost more than 1.3% during midday trading as the technology giant is expected to unveil a new iPhone at its launch event kicking off at 1 p.m. ET.

Casey’s General Stores — The retailer added more than 11% on the heels of an earnings beat. The company reported an adjusted $4.52 per share on revenue of $3.87 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet forecast an adjusted $3.36 and $3.9 billion, respectively. Executives also reiterated forward guidance and forecast an increase to 2024 same-store sales by 3% to 5%.

Beauty Health — The HydraFacial parent company’s shares surged 23.2% after it announced a cost-cutting program. The first phase of the program is forecast to generate $20 million in annualized cost savings during the first quarter of 2024. Beauty Health’s board of directors also authorized a $100 million share repurchase program.

Advance Auto Parts — Shares fell 6.2% to a 12-year low after S&P Global downgraded the auto parts provider’s credit rating to BB+, the highest level of “junk,” or speculative, status, from BBB-.

CVS — The drug store chain climbed 2% following an upgrade to outperform from peer perform by Wolfe. The firm said the business could inflect over the next six to 12 months.

Block — Shares of the payments company jumped 1.5% after Baird reiterated an outperform rating on the stock and designated shares as a bullish fresh pick. The Wall Street firm said shares may be oversold after the company experienced a temporary outage on its payment processor Square.

Cintas — The stock gained 2.4% after Bank of America upgraded Cintas to buy from neutral, calling the corporate apparel maker a “best-in-breed company” that can benefit as recession risks wane. The firm attributed the new rating to its growing confidence in a potential soft landing for the U.S. economy.

Geron — Stock in the biotechnology firm added roughly 1% following an upgrade to buy from Goldman Sachs earlier Tuesday. Analyst Corinne Jenkins noted optimism over recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for myelodysplastic syndromes treatment imetelstat.

Exxon Mobil — Shares of the energy giant rose more than 2% as the price of oil continued to climb. Futures for U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude hit their highest level since November. Elsewhere, Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight call on Exxon, saying the company was a top pick in its category.

— CNBC’s Yun Li, Samantha Subin, Hakyung Kim, Lisa Kailai Han, Jesse Pound, Pia Singh and Brian Evans contributed reporting.