Facebook, Ford, GM and more

Find out which companies are making the midday headlines.

Facebook – Facebook shares fell 5.5% after a company whistleblower exposed her identity and accused the social media giant of “betraying democracy.” The whistleblower leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal and Congress, revealing that Facebook executives were aware of the negative impacts of its platforms on young people. Twitter fell 6.4% as concerns over increased regulation in the space loomed.

Ford Motor – Ford shares rose 2.8% after the US automaker’s vehicle sales showed signs of improvement in the third quarter. Sales improved after losses of more than 30% in July and August, to 17.7% in September. Ford still saw sales drop 27.4% year-over-year, but the decline was smaller than expected.

General Motors – Shares of General Motors gained about 2.7% after activist company Engine No. 1 announced an investment in the automaker. The hedge fund said it supports GM’s progress in electric vehicles. Engine No. 1 rose to prominence earlier this year with the successful placement of three independent climate-focused directors on the Exxon Mobil board of directors.

Tesla – Shares of the electric car maker rose just under 1% despite the tech-induced sell off in the wider market. The rally came after Tesla said it delivered 241,300 vehicles in the third quarter, beating analysts’ expectations. The title is up around 10% this year after a 2020 blockbuster.

Moderna, Novavax, Merck— Shares of the two Covid-19 vaccine makers fell for a second trading day after Merck’s new Covid antiviral pill showed positive results in a clinical trial. Moderna fell almost 6.5%, while Novavax slipped 2.6%. Merck rose 1.7%.

Southwest Airlines – Airlines stocks resisted the downtrend in the broader market to rise more than 2% following an upgrade to overweight to equal weight in Barclays. Analyst Brandon Oglenski also raised the North American airline sector from neutral to positive, although uncertainty persists around the return of business travel.

Devon Energy, Marathon Oil, Occidental Petroleum – Energy stocks surged as oil prices rose as OPEC + agreed to stick to a plan to ramp up production. Devon Energy grew by more than 5%, Marathon Oil by more than 4% and Occidental Petroleum by more than 2%.

Dupont de Nemours – Materials shares rose 1.6% after JPMorgan raised DuPont from neutral to overweight. The investment firm said DuPont is expected to exceed earnings expectations in 2022 and 2023.

Union Pacific – Railroad stock rose more than 1% after Barclays upgraded Union Pacific to overweight to equal weight. The investment company said in a note that the rail industry is expected to rebound in 2022 as supply chain issues are addressed, increasing demand for shipping in the United States.

– CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald, Yun Li and Jesse Pound contributed reporting