Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. Spirit Airlines , JetBlue Airways — The airline stocks slid after a federal judge blocked JetBlue Airways’ proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines. Following the move, Bank of America Securities moved Spirit Airlines to an underperform rating, from no rating prior, saying the airline operator has “a difficult path ahead to return to its historical level of growth and profitability.” Susquehanna Financial Group also downgraded Spirit to negative from neutral. JetBlue shares fell nearly 1%, while Spirit Airlines dropped more than 20%. Interactive Brokers — Shares slipped 3% in Wednesday premarket trading, the morning after the electronic broker posted fourth-quarter results. While adjusted revenue came in at $1.15 billion against a $1.14 billion consensus estimate of analysts polled by LSEG, adjusted earnings per share were below Wall Street’s forecast by 3 cents. Sinclair — The broadcaster advanced 5.2% after announcing the settlement of all litigation related to Diamond Sports Group. Sinclair will pay Diamond $495 million in cash as part of the agreement. SolarEdge Technologies — The solar stock fell 5% following a downgrade by Barclays to underweight from equal weight. The firm anticipates continued slow growth and lower gross margins relative to peers due to elevated inventories. Twist Bioscience — Shares climbed 3.2% on the heels of an upgrade to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs. The Wall Street bank said the critical new product launch of Express Genes , a rapid synthetic service, should help expand margins. Teladoc — The virtual healthcare platform retreated nearly 3% following D.A. Davidson’s downgrade to neutral from buy. D.A. Davidson said the company should see stalled growth in main business areas. Nutanix — Shares traded 4% higher after William Blair initiated coverage of the cloud stock with an outperform rating. The firm said Nutanix should be a top beneficiary of an industry disruption tied to Broadcom acquiring VMware. Instacart — Shares increased nearly 4% following an upgrade to outperform from peer perform by Wolfe. The firm said the grocery delivery stock has several paths it can take to do well, including by merging with Uber. Rivian — Shares of the electric automaker fell by 3.6% after Deutsche Bank downgraded Rivian to hold from buy, saying in a note to clients that the company’s ramp up toward a positive gross margin may be going slower than expected. Tesla — The electric vehicle maker slid 1.8% after cutting car prices in several European countries. It follows recent price decreases from the EV giant in China. Ford — Shares shed 2.3% on the back of a UBS downgrade to neutral from buy. UBS said the automaker has limited upside and a tougher road ahead compared with competitors. Morgan Stanley — Shares of the investment bank dropped more than 1% in premarket trading after JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight following its quarterly report. The bank was hit by hefty regulatory charges, while CEO Ted Pick warned of major downside risks ahead. Visteon — The automotive technology stock added 1.8% following a UBS upgrade to buy from neutral. The firm said the market has gotten too bearish on the stock by some measures. Polaris , Mattel — Shares of the pair moved in response to rating changes from Morgan Stanley. Polaris rose 2.3% after the firm upgraded its shares to overweight from equal weight, noting that the company is an industry leader and has an attractive risk-reward ratio. Mattel dropped 2.8% following Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to equal weight from overweight, which the firm said was due to the risk it could fall short of consensus estimates and a tough category outlook for 2024. — CNBC’s Sarah Min, Yun Li, Jesse Pound and Michelle Fox contributed reporting
