Stocks making the biggest moves midday: PacWest, Western Alliance, Paramount Global & more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading Thursday.

Paramount Global — The media stock cratered more than 27% after the company slashed its dividend and reported earnings that fell short of analyst expectations. Paramount Global cut is dividend to 5 cents from 24 cents a share, marking its first reduction since 2009.

PacWest, First Horizon, Western Alliance — Regional bank stocks were under heavy pressure again on Thursday. Shares of PacWest dropped more than 50% after reports that the company was exploring a potential sale. The company said it is evaluating all options to maximize shareholder value. Shares of First Horizon dropped more than 30% after its merger with TD Bank was called off, with the banks citing lack of clarity on a timeline from regulators. Western Alliance also suffered deep losses, falling more than 40%.

Shopify — The e-commerce platform jumped more than 27% after beating expectations for the previous quarter and announcing a sale of parts of its fulfillment operation and logistics division.

Royal Caribbean — The cruise line advanced 6% after the company beat Wall Street expectations for the quarter. Royal Caribbean recorded a smaller loss in earnings per share than expected. Revenue was modestly higher than analysts anticipated. The company also gave guidance for second-quarter and full-year earnings per share that was better than analyst estimates.

Peloton — Shares dropped 12% after the connected fitness company reported an earnings-per-share loss of 79 cents for its fiscal third quarter, wider than the 46 cents loss expected from analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Qualcomm — Qualcomm lost more than 6% after sharing lighter-than-expected guidance. The chipmaker reported a 17% decline in handset chip sales as it faces a challenging environment and slow smartphone sales…