MIDDAY MOVES | PayPal Sinks 16% on Failed Advent-Stripe Buyout; Elastic, Gap Rally

According to CNBC, PayPal shares plunged nearly 16% in midday trading after Bloomberg reported Thursday night, citing people familiar with the matter, that buyout firm Advent and payment processor Stripe decided not to pursue the company; the sources said the deal would have been one of the largest leveraged buyouts. Elastic N.V. jumped more than 17% after full-year guidance topped analysts' expectations, with adjusted earnings per share seen in a range of $3.29 to $3.37 versus the LSEG estimate of $3.24. Gap climbed nearly 13% after naming Michael Francis to lead Old Navy starting Nov. 2, succeeding Haio Barbeito, while second-quarter adjusted earnings of 52 cents per share beat the LSEG consensus of 48 cents. Workday rose 6% after posting second-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.75 per share on revenue of $2.65 billion, above the LSEG estimates of $2.61 and $2.64 billion. Affirm gained 5% after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $1.17 billion, topping an LSEG estimate of $1.11 billion, with first-quarter revenue guidance also above estimates. Salesforce added 3%, extending a post-earnings rally after beating top- and bottom-line estimates and posting a $2.6 billion gain on strategic investments, including its stake in AI startup Anthropic. ServiceNow rose 3% after finance chief Gina Mastantuono said at Deutsche Bank's technology conference that its AI business is on track for a full-year target of $1.5 billion. Amazon advanced nearly 4% after Evercore ISI raised its price target to $355 from $315, with analyst Mark Mahaney noting survey evidence that agentic AI is additive for Amazon Retail. Nvidia fell more than 3% after a nearly 9% rally in the prior session. Marvell Technology dropped 10% after guiding to current-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.10 per share, plus or minus 5 cents, versus the LSEG estimate of $1.07. Rubrik declined more than 11% as non-GAAP gross margin of 81% trailed the 81.7% StreetAccount estimate, though it beat on the top and bottom lines with earnings of 20 cents per share on $427 million in revenue. Autodesk fell 4% after its earnings projections of $3.04 to $3.09 per share for the third quarter missed the LSEG estimate of $3.14.