Millions of Americans are already traveling to their Thanksgiving destinations, and that left Wall Street largely listless on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrials gave up ground, pulling back from record highs earlier in the week, but most major benchmarks were little changed given the lack of any earthshaking news on the macroeconomic or geopolitical front. Even with many market participants absent, some stocks still saw significant moves following favorable news. Deere (DE +1.63%), GameStop (GME +3.44%), and Axalta Coating Systems (AXTA +3.78%) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
Deere drives higher
Shares of Deere gained 4% after the agricultural equipment specialist reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results. The tractor maker announced a 23% rise in worldwide revenue, helping to lift net income by nearly 80%. Deere said that strong conditions in South America were especially important to the company's overall performance, and the recent acquisition of road construction equipment specialist Wirtgen Group should help to diversify the company's exposure across a broader customer base. With many investors seeing the prospects for key users of heavy equipment continue to improve, Deere is looking to take advantage of a long-awaited cyclical upswing to prosper.
Image source: Deere.
GameStop celebrates a win
GameStop stock climbed 4% in the wake of the company's favorable financial report. The video game retailer said that its third-quarter results included a gain in comparable-store sales of 1.9%, and earnings were far better than most had expected. GameStop has seen a shift in demand from its customers, with rising sales of new hardware and software products offsetting reduced revenue from used games. Many remain skeptical of GameStop's ability to survive in the long run due to the rise of direct-distribution models from game makers, but the holiday shopping season should tell investors a lot about the retailer's staying power.
Axalta plays the field
Finally, shares of Axalta Coating Systems finished higher by 5%. The paint company said that it had started talking with Japanese peer Nippon Paint to pursue a potential acquisition, essentially shunning previous merger talks with Dutch rival Akzo Nobel within the past month. Akzo responded by breaking off discussions with Axalta, and without a firm offer from Nippon, Axalta is running the risk that it could end up without any final acquisition bid. Nevertheless, with considerable consolidation activity in the paint space, Axalta investors seem confident that the paint company will eventually complete a favorable deal.
