Apple, Palantir, Tesla, Okta, IBM, QuantumScape, and More Stock Market Movers

Apple
was falling 0.8%. Shares of the tech giant have declined 5.5% so far in 2024. If the stock closes lower it would be Apple’s longest losing streak to open a new year since 1982, the last time it fell in the first four days of a calendar year, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Two Wall Street firms have downgraded the stock this week.

Palantir Technologies
was falling 4.4% to $15.44. Analysts at Jefferies downgraded shares of the data-analytics company to Underperform from Hold and the price target was cut to $13 from $18. They said artificial-intelligence hype around the company was overdone.

Tesla
declined 1% after the electric-vehicle maker recalled around 1.6 million vehicles in China to update steering software.

Okta,
the provider of identity-management software, fell 1.9% to $81.82 after Jefferies downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy but raised the price target to $95 from $85.

QuantumScape
was falling 0.3%, a day after closing with a gain of 43%.
Volkswagen’s
battery company, PowerCo, said Thursday that
QuantumScape’s
solid-state battery cell had “significantly exceeded the requirements in the A-sample test and successfully completed more than 1,000 charging cycles,” indicating progress in a technology that could be cheaper, offer faster charging, and greater driving ranges.

Exxon Mobil
said it expects to record impairments of as much as $2.6 billion in its upstream business in the fourth quarter, which “primarily reflect idle Upstream Santa Ynez Unit assets and associated facilities in California.” The energy giant said in a regulatory filing that “continuing challenges in the state regulatory environment have impeded progress in restoring operations.” Earlier this week,
Chevron
said it would record a charge of as much as $4 billion in the fourth quarter, citing environmental regulation in California and issues in some Gulf of Mexico fields. Exxon rose 0.2% and
Chevron
shares rose 0.4%.

International Business Machines
was downgraded to Sell from Hold by analysts at Societe Generale, who also left their price target unchanged at $143. Jefferies analysts, meanwhile, initiated coverage on the stock with a Hold rating and price target of $180. IBM shares were down 1.2% to $158.88.

Costco Wholesale
said revenue in December jumped 9.9% from a year earlier to $26.2 billion, marking an acceleration over the 5.1% increase in November. Same-store sales rose 8.5%. In November, same-store sales gained 3.5%. Holiday shopping was largely behind the surge. Shares of the membership retail chain rose 0.8%.

Fusion Pharmaceuticals,
a clinical-stage oncology company, said it achieved alignment with the Food and Drug Administration on a Phase 2/3 protocol protocol and development plan for FPI-2265, a treatment for certain kinds of prostate cancer. Shares rose 8.9%.

Constellation Brands
rose 0.3% after the beer and wine seller reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $3.19 a share, beating analysts’ estimates of $3.01, but sales of $2.47 billion that missed expectations of $2.54 billion. The company also lowered its fiscal 2024 guidance, saying it now expects earnings of $9.15 to $9.35 a share, below previous guidance of $9.60 to $9.80.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com