U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Monday ahead of a key inflation reading during the week that will be scrutinized for whether the Federal Reserve's efforts to cool prices were taking hold, while shares of regional lenders extended gains.
Market Snapshot
At 8:09 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 73 points, or 0.22%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 6.25 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 5.25 points, or 0.03%.
Pre-Market Movers
PacWest — The regional bank popped 39% in premarket trading, adding to its nearly 82% gain on Friday. PacWest said its business is “fundamentally sound” and cut its dividend by just 1 cent per share. Western Alliance gained about 11% while Zions Bancorp added nearly 6%.
Occidental Petroleum — The energy stock dipped less than 1% in premarket after Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t plan on taking full control of the oil giant. The “Oracle of Omaha” has amassed a stake of 23.5%, while receiving approval to purchase up to 50% of the company.
Berkshire Hathaway — The conglomerate’s B shares rose 1.4% in premarket after Buffett’s company reported a 12.6% jump in operating earnings in the first quarter. The strong performance was driven by a rebound in the conglomerate’s insurance business. Overall earnings also rose sharply thanks in part to gains in its equity portfolio, led by Apple.
Estee Lauder — Shares jumped 4.2% in premarket trading following a Sunday report from the New York Post that activist investor Nelson Peltz was contemplating a “possible shakeup” at the beauty products company. The campaign would reportedly target CEO Fabrizio Freda.
AMC — AMC slid 3% in the premarket after the movie theater chain said it reached an agreement to settle a shareholder class action against the conversion of AMC Preferred Equity Units into common company shares, as well as a reverse stock split. Investors approved the decision in March.
American Airlines — Shares gained about 3% in premarket trading Monday after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral. Analyst Jamie Baker highlighted the company’s attractive valuation and said the “Big 3” airlines, which encompasses American, Delta and United, are pulling away from the broader field of providers.
Tyson Foods — Shares of the food production company tumbled 9% after Tyson cut its annual sales outlook and posted an unexpected loss for its latest quarter, according to FactSet. It also warned of a 4% decrease from the previous year in domestic beef production and flat pork production.
Viatris — Shares added 2.4% after the health-care stock topped earnings expectations and reaffirmed full-year guidance, despite a shortfall in revenue. Viatris posted $932.9 million in adjusted net income for the first quarter, ahead of the consensus estimate of $835.8 million from analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue, came in at $3.72 billion against a forecast of $3.8 billion.
Fortinet — The cybersecurity company added 3.3% after being upgraded to buy from neutral by Bank of America. The Wall Street firm cited Fortinet’s solid execution and strong underlying demand.
Market News
Tyson Foods Swings to a Loss, Stock Falls 9%
Tyson Foods Inc. $(TSN)$ stock fell 8.9% in premarket trades Monday after the meat producer posted a surprise second-quarter loss. Tyson Foods said it lost $49 million, or 28 cents a share, from net income of $1.16 billion, or $2.28 a share, in the year-ago quarter.
The company's adjusted loss was 4 cents a share, falling well short of the Wall Street estimate for net income of 79 cents a share.
BioNTech Earnings Drops on Lower COVID Vaccine Sales
BioNTech, Pfizer's partner on COVID-19 vaccines, said first-quarter net income plunged on lower demand for the shots, as the German biotech firm broadens its attention on cancer and other infectious diseases.
Quarterly net profit dropped to 502 million euros ($553.56 million), down from 3.7 billion euros a year earlier, as vaccine demand plunged.
Berkshire Hathaway Sells $58.9 Mln Worth of Shares in China's BYD
Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company owned by Warren Buffett, has sold 1.96 million Hong Kong-listed shares of electric vehicle maker BYD for HK$462.09 million ($58.9 million), a stock exchange filing showed.
The sale on May 2 lowered Berkshire's holdings in BYD's issued H-shares to 9.87% from 10.05%, the filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday showed.
Yellen Says No Good Alternative to Congress Lifting Debt Cap
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there are “simply no good options” for solving the debt limit stalemate in Washington other than Congress lifting the cap and cautioned that resorting to the 14th Amendment would provoke a constitutional crisis.
“We should not get to the point where we need to consider whether the president can go on issuing debt” without Congress lifting the debt ceiling, Yellen said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
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