Stocks making the biggest moves midday: AMC, Ulta Beauty, Best Buy, HP and more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

AMC Entertainment — Shares of AMC Entertainment are in a middle of a roller-coaster session Friday as they turned 5% lower after rallying as much as 38%. By midday, over 360 million shares have already been traded, more than tripling its 30-day average. Shares have already rallied 120% this week amid heightened speculative trading activity, bringing its monstrous 2021 rally to 1,200%.

HP — Shares of the hardware tech company dropped more than 8% despite HP beating expectations on the top and bottom lines for the first quarter. Management warned during an investor call that issues in the semiconductor supply chain could limit the company’s ability to meet demand for some products through at least the end of the year.

Big Lots (BIG) – Shares of the discount retailer dropped 6.78% despite reporting a better-than-expected quarter. Big Lots earned $2.62 per share, beating analyst estimates of $1.69 a share. Revenue of $1.63 billion also beat estimates. Comparable-store sales rose 11.3%,

Salesforce — Shares of the cloud company popped more than 6% in midday trading after beating on the top and bottom lines of its quarterly earnings. Salesforce earned $1.21 per share on revenue of $5.96 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 88 cents per share on revenue of $5.89, according to Refinitiv. Salesforce also raised its full year outlook.

Ulta Beauty — Shares of the beauty store chain gained 5.6% midday after reaching a new 52 week high of $351.72 Friday morning. Ulta posted blowout first-quarter financial results after the bell Thursday, reporting earnings of $4.07 per share, more than twice analysts’ estimate of $1.95 per share, according to Refinitiv. The company’s quarterly revenue also beat the Street’s expectations and Ulta raised its full-year guidance.

Gap — Gap shares fell more than 5% midday, despite posting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The company said it faces supply chain obstacles and difficulties in raw material sourcing due to the proliferation of Covid cases in countries including India. Gap reported earnings of 48 cents per share on revenue of $3.99 billion, compared with analysts’ expectations of 5 cents loss per share on $3.45 billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv.

Best Buy — Shares of the electronics company fell 2.58% in midday trading despite the strong housing market giving a boost to spending on home theaters, appliances and computing. Analysts are cautioning that as the U.S. continues its reopening plan, consumers may be spending more on dining out which could dampen technology spend.

Hibbett Sports – Shares of the footwear company ticked 4% lower despite the company’s stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Hibbett reported earnings of $5.00 per share, topping estimates of $2.77 per share, according to Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $507 million, higher than the $413 estimates by Wall Street.

— CNBC’s Hannah Miao, Maggie Fitzgerald, Jesse Pound and Yun Li contributed reporting