U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday, as Alphabet's strong quarterly results buoyed sentiment around technology megacaps.
ADP said private companies hired 233,000 new workers in the month, better than the upwardly revised 159,000 in September and far ahead of the Dow Jones estimate for 113,000.
Market Snapshot
At 8:20 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 75 points, or 0.18%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 5.75 points, or 0.10%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 44.25 points, or 0.21%.
Pre-Market Movers
Alphabet rose 6.6% in premarket trading after the parent of Google posted third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates, driven by cloud revenue that jumped rose 35% from a year earlier to $11.35 billion and beat consensus of $10.88 billion. The company's cloud division has benefited from the trend to artificial intelligence, and Alphabet has spent big on its own generation-AI technology with capital spending in the quarter rising to $13.1 billion from $8.01 billion a year earlier and higher than estimates of $12.66 billion.
Advanced Micro Devices fell 8.3% after the chip maker reported third-quarter earnings that met expectations but its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter was slightly lower than expectations. AMD said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $7.5 billion at the midpoint of its range compared with estimates of $7.55 billion. On a conference call, CEO Lisa Su said AMD now expects data-center AI GPU revenue to "exceed" $5 billion in 2024, up from the $4.5 billion forecast she made in July, but it appeared investors wanted a larger guidance boost.
Eli Lilly dropped 9.8% in premarket trading after the pharmaceutical company posted third-quarter earnings that missed analysts' expectations. The company reported adjusted earnings in the third quarter of $1.18 a share on revenue of $11.44 billion, compared to analysts' estimates for earnings of $1.45 a share on revenue of $12.1 billion.
Caterpillar dropped 3.8% after the construction-equipment maker reported third-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates.
Visa reported fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.71 a share, better than analysts' predictions of $2.58. Revenue rose 12% to $9.62 billion and topped estimates of $8.9 billion. Payments volume rose 8% from a year earlier, better than forecasts of 6.8%. Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported Visa was planning to lay off about 1,400 employees and contractors by the end of the year. Shares were up 2%.
Snap posted a third-quarter loss of 9 cents a share, narrower than expectations that called for a loss of 14 cents, and revenue of $1.37 billion topped forecasts of $1.36 billion. The company said daily active users in the period rose 9% to 443 million. The parent company of Snapchat also said its board authorized a stock buyback of up to $500 million. The stock was rising 12%.
Chipotle Mexican Grill declined 6.2% after the burrito chain reported third-quarter revenue that rose 13% to $2.8 billion but was shy of expectations of $2.82 billion. Same-store sales also missed projections, rising 6% from a year earlier but below expectations of 6.3%.
Solar-panel manufacturer First Solar was down 8.4% after reporting third-quarter earnings that missed expectations and reducing full-year guidance. The company said it expects full-year adjusted earnings of $13 to $13.50 a share compared with previous profit guidance of $13 to $14. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $13.49 a share.
Reddit surged 22% after the social-media company reported third-quarter earnings of $29.9 million, up from a year-earlier loss of $7.4 million. It was Reddit's first profitable quarter since it went public in March. Revenue jumped 68% to $348.4 million, easily topping Wall Street estimates of $314 million behind increases in advertising and data-licensing sales.
Qorvo was down 19% after issuing fiscal third-quarter earnings guidance that was below analysts' expectations. The company, which makes radio-frequency chips for connectivity in Apple iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and other wireless devices, said it expects adjusted profit in the period of $1.10 to $1.30 a share, below expectations of $1.92.
Microsoft rose 1.9% in premarket trading ahead of fiscal first-quarter earnings scheduled for after the closing bell Wednesday. Wall Street will be expecting updates on AI spending and growth for Azure and Copilot. Analysts expect Microsoft to post earnings of $3.10 a share on revenue of $64.57 billion, compared with year-earlier earnings of $2.99 a share on revenue of $56.52 billion.
Market News
US Mortgage Rates Increase to 6.73%, Highest Since Late July
US mortgage rates rose to the highest level since July, leading to a fifth straight weekly decline in refinancing activity.
The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose 21 basis points to 6.73% in the week ended Oct. 25, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday. In the last four weeks, the rate has risen nearly 60 basis points, the most since March 2023.
EU Will Impose Higher Tariffs Peaking at 45% on Chinese Electric Vehicles
The European Union has decided to increase tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles to as much as 45.3% at the end of its highest profile investigation that has divided Europe and prompted retaliation from Beijing.
Just over a year after launching its anti-subsidy probe, the European Commission will set out extra tariffs ranging from 7.8% for Tesla Motors to 35.3% for China's SAIC, on top of the EU's standard 10% car import duty.
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