Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Fox, Albemarle, First Republic and more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading Monday.

Fox Corp. — The media stock was under pressure after Fox News announced that conservative prime-time host Tucker Carlson has left the network, days after the network settled Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit for almost $800 million. Fox’s class A and B shares were each down about 4%.

Albemarle — Shares of the lithium mining company gained 5.3% at midday, recovering from last week’s losses. The stock fell 10% on Friday amid reports that Chile was considering nationalizing its lithium mining industry. Albemarle CEO Kent Masters told CNBC’s “Last Call” on Friday that Albemarle’s existing mine and contracts in the country would not be affected.

First Republic — Shares of the San Francisco-based regional bank rallied ahead of its report postmarket Monday. The stock was up nearly 7.2% in midday trading but is still down more than 80% for the year.

First Solar – Shares of the solar company lost 4.3% after a Citi downgrade to sell cited margin risks and concerns that Inflation Reduction Act benefits are already reflected in the share price.

C3.ai – The artificial intelligence stock dropped about 11.4% following a downgrade by analysts at Wolfe Research. Wolfe said C3.ai could fall more than 30% due to risks to its future growth.

Tencent Music Entertainment Group — Shares dipped 3.2%, bringing the year-to-date loss to some 11%. To be sure, Mizuho initiated the China music company as a buy on Monday with a $10 price target, saying the Tencent-owned stock has upside potential thanks to its high monetization potential and market share.

Ford, General Motors — Shares of the car and light truck makers were higher midday Monday, with gains of almost 2%. JPMorgan earlier reiterated overweight investment recommendations on both automakers ahead of General Motors’ earnings on Tuesday and Ford’s next week.

Medtronic — Shares added 4% during midday trading after being upgraded to overweight from equal weight by Wells Fargo on Sunday. The firm expects the medical-device maker to benefit from a maturing product pipeline and improving medtech trends.

Sunrun, Enphase Energy — Shares of Sunrun and Enphase Energy were higher Monday after Citi added positive catalyst watches on the solar companies, saying it sees further share gains. Sunrun gained nearly 2.9% while Enphase briefly rose as much as 0.33%. The Wall Street bank opened a 90-day positive catalyst watch on Enphase Energy, citing a strong backlog and expectations for record-high margins.

Tesla — Shares fell almost 3% Monday. In a Friday letter, institutional shareholders admonished Tesla’ board of directors, telling them to rein in an “over-committed” CEO Elon Musk.  This came two days after Tesla’s first quarter earnings report, in which the electric vehicle maker posted a 20% decline in net income from the prior year.

Bed Bath & Beyond — Shares plunged 32% after the home goods retailer filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday, after failing to raise enough money to stave off Chapter 11. Shares have lost nearly 99% in the past year.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Hakyung Kim, Brian Evans contributed reporting.