Hot Stocks: WMT rises on analyst upgrade; UBS and BABA higher; SCHW dips on downgrade; BBBY fell on bankruptcy hint; BTU slides

Stocks moved higher during Thursday's midday session led by banking and tech stocks, following the release of weekly first-time jobless claims totals and second revision of Q4 GDP data.

Tracking individual stocks, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) rose after an analyst upgrade, whereas The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) plunged on downgrade.

Meanwhile, UBS (NYSE:UBS) shares rose in response to the announcement of Sergio Ermotti's return as CEO, and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) shares rose following the investor call.

In other news, Bed, Bath and Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) fell after issuing a bankruptcy warning, and Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) fell after confirming a fire at its Shoal Creek Mine.

Gainers

Walmart (WMT) shares gained about 1% after Evercore ISI upgraded the retailer to outperform from in-line. In a client note, the investment firm predicted that Walmart's traffic and margins would improve over the next two years.

Alibaba (BABA) surged ~4%, after the company held the investor call following its restructuring plan.

On a Thursday morning conference call, CEO Daniel Zhang told investors, "Alibaba will be more of an asset and capital operator than a business operator in relation to the business group companies."

He also stated that the restructuring units will have their own CEOs and boards, and that Alibaba will retain boardroom seats in the short term.

Swiss Bank UBS Group (UBS) shares rose more than 3%, a day after the bank announced the return of Sergio Ermotti, to lead the company's acquisition of Credit Suisse (CS).

Decliners

Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY) slumped more than 15% after the retailer once again signalled it may need to file for bankruptcy as it proposed a $300M stock offering. The company sees Q4 sales of $1.2B, much below consensus $1.41B.

"We need the proceeds from the offering of securities covered by this prospectus supplement to pay our outstanding obligations under our Credit Facilities and to operate our business, and we expect that we will likely file for bankruptcy protection if the offering is not fully consummated," the company stated.

Shares of Charles Schwab (SCHW) fell more than 4% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from overweight to equal weight, citing an uncertain earnings outlook.

Peabody Energy (BTU) fell 3% after the company's Shoal Creek Mine caught fire. The company confirmed that it will have no material impact on financial results in 2023.

To keep track of Wall Street's biggest winners and losers throughout the session, head over to Seeking Alpha's On The Move section.