Midday Market Movers: Meta, Maxar Technologies, Ford, Goldman Sachs and More

Meta Platforms' shares rose 3.5% after JPMorgan upgraded the social media company to buy and raised its price target. The bank said that headwinds will ease next year.

Maxar Technologies shares surged 122% following news that private equity firm Advent International will acquire the company and take it private in a deal valued at $6.4 billion, or $53 a share. The stock closed at $23.10 per share Thursday. This is great news for shareholders, as the company will be taken private and receive a substantial premium.

Goldman Sachs shares fell 1% after news broke that the Wall Street firm will lay off up to 8% of its workforce. The layoffs are expected to come in January and will affect all areas of the firm, according to CNBC sources.

Ford shares fell 6.2% after the company said it was increasing the base price for its F-150 Lightning pickup again due to higher raw material costs.

Adobe's stock prices rose by over 3% after they reported their earnings for the fourth fiscal quarter, which exceeded the expectations of analysts. They maintained their forecast for the new fiscal year, and also announced a plan to buy the startup Figma.

Darden Restaurants reported an earnings and revenue beat for its fiscal 2023 second quarter, but its profit margins declined. The company's largest holding, Olive Garden, saw its profit margin drop from 21.6% to 18.6%. Despite this, shares of Darden Restaurants still fell by 4%.

The New York Times' stock fell 3.7% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the company to equal weight from overweight. The Wall Street firm cited recent underperformance in net adds as well as growing macro headwinds to advertising revenues.

Accenture's shares fell 5.1% after the company issued a light revenue outlook and noted that the impacts of a strong dollar will weigh on its fiscal 2023 results. Although Accenture beat top and bottom line estimates, investors were disappointed by the company's outlook.

Scholastic's stock surged 9.7% following a strong quarterly earnings report. The company said its profit margins expanded during the period.

Jefferies downgraded Lincoln National from "hold" to "underperform," causing the company's stock to drop by more than 4%. The investment firm cited expected pressure on free cash flow in 2023 and 2024 as the reason for the downgrade.

U.S. Steel's stock rose by 4.5% after the company issued positive guidance for the current quarter. This was better than what analysts had expected.

Energy stocks were among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, with the sector falling 2% on the back of falling oil prices. Shares of Coterra Energy and APA Corp. were each down more than 4%, while Halliburton was off by about 3%. Marathon Oil dropped more than 2%.U.S.-listed China stocks rose on Friday, with JD.com and Alibaba shares up more than 1%. Electric vehicle stock Xpeng added more than 4%. Delisting concerns eased as the U.S. gained access to necessary audit documents.

Guardant Health's stock took a hit after the company revealed that its blood tests for detecting colorectal cancer are less effective than Exact Sciences' stool-based test. Exact Sciences' shares jumped in response.