Tesla, Merck Rise Premarket; 3M Falls By Investing.com

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com — Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Monday, October 4th. Please refresh for updates.

• Tesla (NASDAQ:) stock rose 2.8% after the electric car maker recorded a 73% jump in deliveries in the third quarter, staying on course to meet ambitious full-year targets despite the global semiconductor chips shortage.

• Merck (NYSE:) stock rose 2.8%, continuing Friday’s sharp gains on the back of the drugmaker announcing encouraging news about its experimental antiviral oral treatment for Covid-19. On the flip side, the stocks of rivals Moderna (NASDAQ:) and Novavax (NASDAQ:) have fallen 4.8% and 3.9% respectively.

• 3M Company (NYSE:) stock fell 1.7% on the back of a federal jury awarding an army veteran $8.2 million, the biggest verdict yet against the company in mass tort litigation over its combat earplugs.

• Union Pacific (NYSE:) stock rose 1.6% after Barclays (LON:) upgraded the freight-hauling railroad to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal weight’, saying the railroad industry will rebound as the current supply chain issues are fixed.

• DuPont (NYSE:) stock climbed 2.6% after JPMorgan (NYSE:) upgraded its recommendation to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’, saying the the underperforming stock can rebound by more than 20%.

• Delta Air Lines (NYSE:) stock rose 1% after the airline reinstated its original third-quarter revenue forecast, after cutting it a month ago. It also expects 2022 domestic bookings to surpass pre-pandemic levels. 

• Southwest Airlines (NYSE:) stock rose 2.5% after Barclays upgraded its investment stance to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal weight’, saying it favors the low-cost, low-fare carriers as traffic increases.