Kohl’s, American Airlines, Carnival, Darden

Check out the companies making headlines midday Tuesday:

Kohl’s — Shares of the retailer surged more than 27{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} as investors cheered a decline in new coronavirus cases. Elsewhere in the retail sector, PVH jumped 25{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} while Nordstrom gained 21{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}. Gap and Ralph Lauren also traded higher, rising 16{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} and 12{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, respectively. 

Exxon — Shares of the company jumped more than 4{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} after the energy giant announced plans to cut its capital spending program for 2020 by 30{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} amid declining oil prices. “The fact that we’ve lost 23{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} of demand here in a very short order, that’s a huge transition for the industry to make,” CEO Darren Woods said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean — Cruise stocks surged after the Saudi sovereign wealth fund disclosed an 8.2{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} stake in Carnival. Shares of Carnival rallied more than 18{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}. Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean gained 17.8{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} and 24.3{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, respectively. These stocks, however, are all down more than 70{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} for the year after a massive drop amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Darden Restaurants — Shares of the restaurant chain owner rallied nearly 15{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} after the company said Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse are seeing significant spikes in to-go sales as people avoid public spaces and stay at home. Olive Garden’s off-premise sales have jumped 141.6{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, while LongHorn Steakhouse’s have more than tripled.

3M — Shares rose more than 4{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} after the company “reached an agreement” with the White House, which will see the company deliver 166.5 million respirator masks to the U.S. over the next three months. The president had previously accused 3M of wrongdoing over “what they were doing with their masks.”

American Airlines — Shares jumped more than 18{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} on improving health data from Europe and New York City, signalling that travel restrictions might be lifted sooner than expected. Alaska Air and Untied Airlines were also trading higher, gaining 13{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} and 9{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, respectively. 

General Motors — The legacy automaker jumped more than 10{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} on Tuesday morning as car stocks rallied. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy but its price target of $25 per share is about 28{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} above where the stock closed on Monday. Shares of Ford and Tesla also gained more than the broader market.

Dow Inc. — Shares of the chemical company rallied more than 11{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average during Tuesday’s rally. The stock is up more than 20{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} this week, but still 40{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} below its 52-week high.

Gilead Sciences — Shares of Gilead Sciences pulled back about 5{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, trimming this year’s solid gains amid the massive coronavirus sell-off in the broad market. Investors flocked to many biotech names due to their efforts to develop treatment and vaccines for the coronavirus. Gilead said earlier it has increased the production of its experimental coronavirus drug remdesivir. Shares of Gilead have gained 16{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} this year, while the S&P 500 has lost 15{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}.

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert, Maggie Fitzgerald, Jesse Pound and Yun Li contributed to this report.