Pre-Bell｜U.S. Stock Futures Traded Lower; Cathie Sees Potential for Twitter Shakeup

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Nasdaq Composite surged around 270 points in the previous session.

Market Snapshot

At 8:14 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 64 points, or 0.18%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 7.75 points, or 0.17%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 26.25 points, or 0.17%.

Pre-Market Movers

Carvana(CVNA) – Carvana was downgraded to “sector perform” from “outperform” at RBC Capital Markets, with the price target for the online car seller’s stock cut to $138 per share from $155 per share. RBC bases its call both on valuation and potential difficulty in integrating its recent acquisition of car auction company Adesa. Carvana slid 3.4% in the premarket.

First Solar(FSLR) – The solar company’s stock fell 4.8% in premarket trading after Bank of America Securities downgraded it to “underperform” from “neutral.” BofA said investors may be overly optimistic about growth prospects and that a new Commerce Department anti-dumping inquiry into Asian module manufacturers is unlikely to drive pricing power.

Generac(GNRC) – The maker of backup generators and other energy-related equipment was put on the “Americas Buy List” at Goldman Sachs. Goldman points to a broad product portfolio, an increasing distribution footprint, and the idea that many of Generac’s products are in the early stages of adoption. Generac added 2.1% in premarket trading.

Carnival(CCL) – Carnival rallied 3.6% in the premarket after the cruise line operator said the seven-day period from March 28 through April 3 was the busiest week for new cruise bookings in the company’s history.

Twitter(TWTR) – Twitter was up another 1.5% in premarket action after soaring 27.1% Monday. That followed Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s disclosure that he had taken a 9.2% stake in the social media company.

Nio(NIO) – Nio gained 1.1% in the premarket following a report in the Financial Times that the China-based electric car maker is speaking with peers about licensing its battery swapping technology.

Farfetch(FTCH) – The luxury fashion e-commerce company will take a $200 million minority stake in Neiman Marcus as part of a global partnership.

Acuity Brands(AYI) – The maker of lighting products and building management systems reported quarterly earnings of $2.57 per share, 20 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also topped Wall Street forecasts. The company said it was able to offset significant increases in materials and freight costs with price increases and productivity improvements.

Teva Pharmaceutical(TEVA) – The drugmaker was upgraded to “overweight” from “equal weight” at Barclays, which cited several factors including increased estimates for Teva’s biosimilar version of the immunosuppressive drug Humira. Teva added 1.5% in premarket trading.

Market News

1. Cathie Wood speculated that Elon Musk’s new ownership stake in Twitter Inc. might open the door to a management shakeup at the social media company. Elon Musk shared his reasoning on why polls on the platform matter. Musk said on Tuesday that “if the people vote overwhelmingly for something, it is at least *a* data point!”
2. The likelihood of U.S. fund KKR & Co Inc pushing ahead with a firm bid for Telecom Italia SpA turned bleaker as they deadlocked over access to the company’s books.
3. Volkswagen AG owned luxury carmaker Porsche Cars North America Inc reported a 24.9% decline in Q1 FY22 U.S. retail deliveries.
4. The CEOs of Pfizer Inc, BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc have shared more than $100 million in pay during the pandemic reflecting the success of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines developed by their companies.
5. E-commerce platform Shopify Inc SHOP has been named in a class-action lawsuit for allegedly failing to safeguard consumer information in a 2020 data breach impacting Ledger cryptocurrency wallets.