Stock futures were falling Friday as investors awaited the release of the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index.
These stocks were poised to make moves Friday:
Nike reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations but announced a $2 billion cost-cutting plan over the next three years as it expects sales to soften in the second half of fiscal 2024. Nike said it was looking at “streamlining” the company and would record pretax restructuring charges of about $400 million to $450 million, mostly in the third quarter, ”primarily associated with employee severance costs.” Shares of the sneaker and apparel company dropped 11%.
Fellow athletic-gear retailers Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker fell 4.3% and 6.3%, respectively.
Hot Chinese gaming stocks drove Chinese ADRs crashing in premarket trading, NetEase tumbled over 23% while Bilibili Inc. slipped over 10%. Chinese regulators will curb excessive spending and rewards that encourage online gaming, laying down the latest tightening measures for the world’s biggest mobile games arena.
Tesla was down 0.4% in premarket trading to $253.34 after analysts at RBC Capital reduced their delivery estimates for the electric-vehicle maker in the fourth quarter to 456,000 from 476,000, citing registration data and app downloads. The analysts maintained their Outperform rating and $300 price target on Tesla shares. Analysts at Wedbush, meanwhile, raised their price target on Tesla to $350 from $310 based on the “increasingly bullish view of further EV share gains and margin stabilization in 2024.” Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating on the stock and said it believes Tesla will reach $1 trillion market cap next year.
Rocket Lab was rising 14% after the commercial space company said it received a contract from a U.S. government customer worth $515 million to “design, manufacture, deliver, and operate 18 space vehicles. “
Berkshire Hathaway purchased 5.2 million shares of Occidental Petroleum in recent days, bringing its total ownership in the energy company to 243.7 million shares, or a 27.7% stake, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Occidental shares rose 0.9%.
AAR, the provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, posted adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings that matched analysts’ estimates but sales of $545.4 million that missed expectations of $557 million.
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