Below are the main news driven share price changes at 1:29 p.m. in New York on Wednesday:
RISERS
Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) soared 12.2% to $116.65 after the apparel company said its founder will step aside as chief executive officer and he will be replaced by the president of Gap’s (NYSE:GPS) Old Navy division. Gap shares tumbled 6.3% to $27.96.
Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) climbed 9.8% to $187.46 after activist investor Starboard Value LP unveiled a 3.7% stake in the automotive parts retailer and urged the company to improve its margins.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) surged 14.4% to $78.76 after the U.S. data storage company said Chinese state-backed Unisplendour Corp Ltd would invest $3.78bn in the company for a 15% stake.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose 2.4% to $507.50 after the online retail giant introduced a service in its hometown Seattle to deliver packages ultra-fast to its Prime consumers, using a crowdsourced network of drivers.
Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) advanced 3.1% to $7.00 after the energy producer said it will trim its workforce by 15% to survive falling oil and gas prices.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) rose 0.6% to $31.21 after the world’s largest drugmaker lifted its full-year revenue and adjusted-earnings outlook to reflect its recently completed acquisition of Hospira Inc.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) added 2.3% to $47.08. The Rochester, New York-based company said its earnings rose 22% on continued growth in its payroll and human-resource-services businesses and a boost from a tax benefit in the latest quarter.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) fluctuated and was last up 0.5% at $144.41 The largest U.S. warehouse-club chain reported lower fuel prices and the stronger U.S. dollar again hurt sales in the latest quarter, even as profit improved 10%.