Weekly Roundup: UnitedHealth Jumps, Applied Materials Declines, Solar Stocks Soar

On this episode of Stock Movers:

- Unitedhealth (UNH) shares jumped after funds piled into the company, which has been hampered by a federal probe into its business practices and weakening results. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was among the investors, buying 5 million shares, according to a filing. David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP also invested, boosting its holdings of the health insurance giant by 2.3 million shares. The investments were a welcome reprieve for a company that had seen its stock fall 46% this year. The shares rose as much as 12.65% Friday, the most since March of 2020. 

- Applied Materials (AMAT) suffered the worst single-day stock decline in five years after giving a disappointing sales and profit forecast, renewing concerns that the US trade dispute with China is weighing on demand. Revenue will be approximately $6.7 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, the company said in a statement Thursday. Analysts had estimated $7.32 billion on average. Profit will be about $2.11 a share, excluding some items, compared with a projection of $2.38. Applied Materials, the largest American producer of chipmaking gear, is seeing less demand from customers in China, Chief Executive Officer Gary Dickerson said in an interview. It also faces delays in approval for exporting technology to that country, he said. Moreover, large customers are putting off some purchases in the face of prolonged negotiations around tariffs and other economic issues.

- First Solar (FSLR) and clean energy stocks soared after the Trump administration released new guidance on eligibility requirements for tax credits that weren’t as punitive as the industry had feared. Residential solar systems will still be able to qualify under prior guidance and larger projects will have to meet a physical construction standard but will still have four years to complete their developments. According to Phil Shen, a clean energy analyst with Roth Capital Partners, "This is much better than expected," and Robert Barnett, a clean energy analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, said "This seems pretty straight forward" and is "particularly favorable news to the residential and small commercial solar companies".

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