Morning Movers: Netflix Spikes on Icahn Stake, Visa Climb Higher

Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)  is down 2.20 percent in pre-market trading. Well-known investor Carl Icahn declared that he had bought a 9.98 percent stake in the company through options. There have previously been reports of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) considering a bid for the streaming video provider as well. In late afternoon trading, Netflix shares gave back 1 percent of the spike.

Visa (NYSE:V) shares gained more than 3 percent early morning. The credit card company reported financial results for its fourth quarter. Net income surged 88.9 percent to $1.66 billion ($2.47 per share), compared to $880 million ($1.27 per share) a year earlier. Revenue also rose 14.6 percent to $2.73 billion in the same time period.

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Shares of Allstate (NYSE:ALL) remain unchanged in pre-market trading after reporting higher than expected earnings for the third quarter. Net income came in at $723 million ($1.48 per share), compared to $175 million (34 cents per share) a year earlier. The mean analyst estimate called for earnings of $1.15 per share.

After closing 3.8 percent in the red on Wednesday, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) shares are up 0.19 percent in early trading hours. About 50 million Facebook shares were traded in the first hour of trading as 234 million shares held by the company’s employees became eligible to be sold on Wednesday. The lock-up was supposed to expire on Monday, but was delayed due to hurricane Sandy.

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