Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Astera Labs – Shares gained 15.6% after the company, which sells data center connectivity chips, debuted new fabric switches for artificial intelligence . Norwegian Cruise Line – Shares popped about 11% on the heels of a Citi upgrade to buy from neutral. Citi said the company should see significant growth in earnings per share that can drive earnings upside and expand the margin. Bayer – U.S.-traded shares of the life sciences company fell nearly 7%. The Washington Supreme Court said it would review a case against the company that alleges that several people at the Sky Valley Education Center in Washington state were harmed from exposure to products made by its Monsanto unit. Reddit – The social forum stock moved marginally higher after Jefferies began coverage on the name with a buy rating. Analyst John Colantuoni said that high user growth and a closing monetization gap could give Reddit a leg up above peers and boost its earnings. Arcadium Lithium – Shares of the miner surged 30.9% after fellow miner Rio Tinto announced it was acquiring the company for $5.85 per share . Meanwhile, shares of Rio Tinto moved marginally lower following the news. GitLab – The software stock moved more than 7% higher after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an overweight rating. The firm thinks GitLab can become a key consolidator in the market as a result of its vast product offerings in the software delivery pipeline. Helen of Troy – The housewares stock soared almost 18% after the company’s second-quarter earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations. Helen of Troy posted earnings of $1.21 per share on revenue of $474.2 million, above the $1.05 per share and $458.9 million analysts polled by FactSet had anticipated. Chewy – The pet product online retailer saw shares rising more than 3% after TD Cowen initiated coverage on the stock with a buy rating. The Wall Street firm said Chewy is the leading pure play e-commerce offering in the $144 billion U.S. pet industry. Boeing – Shares of the aerospace giant fell another 3% on Wednesday as the strike by a machinists’ union continues. On Tuesday, Boeing withdrew its contract offer to the union after talks failed to result in a deal. S & P Global Ratings has also issued a negative outlook for the company’s credit rating. Alphabet – The megacap tech stock dropped around 1.5% after the Justice Department revealed that it’s considering a possible breakup of Google. This comes after a U.S. judge ruled back in August that Google has held a monopoly in search and text advertising . — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Yun Li, Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed reporting.
