Strauss – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

A man wears clothing by Levis Strauss & Co. during the company’s initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, the United States, on Thursday, March 21, 2019.

Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Check out the companies that are making headlines in mid-day trading.

Levi Strauss – The retailer’s shares rose 2.6% after the company beat estimates for sales and earnings in the first quarter. Levi’s made 34 cents per share on an adjusted basis and had sales of $ 1.31 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected the company to make 25 cents on sales of $ 1.25 billion. Results were boosted by the strength of Levi’s digital sales, which grew 41%.

FuboTV – Streaming service increased 12.6% after FuboTV won the exclusive streaming rights to the Qatar World Cup 2022 qualifiers. Ten South American Football Confederation teams will take part in the qualifiers.

WD-40 – The stock rose 9.5% after posting earnings per share of $ 1.24 according to Refinitiv, 8 cents below analyst estimates. Sales also fell short of expectations. The company said supply chain issues were affecting its ability to meet customer demand.

Honeywell – The conglomerate’s shares rose 3.4% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to buy from the hold. After a strong underperformance since the beginning of the year, the German saw an attractive buying opportunity. The bank also pointed to attractive end-market exposures, high quality character and short-term gains.

DraftKings – The sports betting company’s stocks fell 2% after Jefferies named DraftKings a top pick. The Wall Street firm named DraftKings a “top operator” and market leader as states continue to legalize gambling.

Sogou – The internet search company rose 3.8% on Friday after Reuters reported that China’s antitrust authorities were ready to approve Tencent’s plan to take the company private. The $ 3.5 billion deal would allow Tencent to buy the 60% of Sogou that it does not already own.

PriceSmart – The shares of the discounter fell 7.1% after a lack of analyst estimates for the quarterly result. PriceSmart said the pandemic continues to weigh on their business in certain markets.

Bridgetown Holdings – – SPAC, backed by billionaire investors Peter Thiel and Richard Li, fell 2.3% after it was revealed that Indonesia-based travel services company Traveloka would be listed on the stock exchange, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg.

Boeing – The aircraft maker’s shares fell 1% after U.S. airlines temporarily suspended more than 60 of the company’s 737 MAX jets on Friday. The move came after Boeing asked 16 airlines operating the jet to resolve an issue with the aircraft’s power grid.

Okta – The software company rose 2.4% after BTIG switched its stock to neutral. The company said in a note that demand for Okta’s customer identity business appears to have increased and that competition from Microsoft is not a short-term threat.

– with reports from Yun Li, Jesse Pound and Pippa Stevens from CNBC.

Chip Bergh, CEO of Levi Strauss, said Thursday the jeans maker is buying more space as commercial rental offers have risen.

The San Francisco-based company plans to expand its 40 branches and 200 branches in the US to improve its direct customer business, the managing director said.

“This is a great opportunity, especially given the commercial real estate tsunami that is happening,” CNBC’s Bergh Jim Cramer said in a Mad Money interview. According to Moody’s Analytics, the vacancy rate in regional shopping centers rose to a record 11.4% in the first quarter from 10.5% in the fourth quarter.

“It gives us the opportunity to secure great locations with great leases, and we’re taking advantage of that,” he said.

Direct selling accounted for around 40% of Levi’s total sales last year, the company said in February. For this year Levi wants these sales to represent 60% of total sales.

Part of the launch of the new store is what the company calls NextGen Stores. These are smaller, just 2,500 square feet, and equipped with machine learning to help with inventory, Bergh said.

“These are really significant opportunities and we have announced that we will be led by DTC going forward,” he said. “It is really important for us to increase the gross margin and we are successful at it.”

Levi’s direct-to-consumer strategy encompasses the main and outlet stores, online operations, and department stores with which the company works. Sales in this category were down 26% in the most recent quarter, due to less foot traffic in the stores.