U.S. stock futures bounced early on Friday cutting into losses from earlier in the week that has sent the S&P 500 to the cusp of a bear market and the Dow Jones Jones Industrial average on pace for its eighth negative week in a row.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 266 points, or 0.85%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 41.75 points, or 1.07%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 171.75 points, or 1.45%.
Pre-Market Movers
Foot Locker – The athletic footwear and apparel retailer reported an adjusted quarterly profit of $1.60 per share, 5 cents above estimates. Revenue was slightly below forecasts, and same-store sales fell by less than half of what was anticipated by analysts. Foot Locker shares added 1% in the premarket.
John Deere – The heavy equipment maker’s stock fell 4.4% in premarket trading after quarterly revenue missed Street forecasts. Deere beat earnings estimates by 10 cents, reporting $6.81 per share, as a jump in worldwide crop prices helped spur demand. The company also raised its annual profit outlook.
DoorDash, Inc. – Door Dash announced the authorization of a $400 million stock buyback program. The food delivery company said the move will offset dilution stemming from its employee stock compensation program. The stock added 2.2% in premarket action.
VF Corp – VF shares added 2.6% in premarket trading despite slight misses on the top and bottom lines for the latest quarter. The company behind apparel brands, such as North Face, Vans and Timberland, raised its full-year earnings forecast, based on expectations that there will be no additional Covid-19 lockdowns that impact production and that inflation will not worsen.
Deckers Outdoor – Deckers surged 13.8% in the premarket after the footwear company beat top and bottom-line estimates for its latest quarter. Deckers earned $2.51 per share, compared with a consensus estimate of $1.32, as net income more than doubled from a year earlier.
Boeing – Boeing rose 2% in premarket action following the successful launch of its Starliner aircraft, which is now heading toward the International Space Station. The uncrewed flight came after months of delays.
Ross – Ross Stores slumped 27.4% in the premarket after the discount retailer posted top and bottom-line misses for its latest quarter and gave a downbeat forecast. Ross Stores said inflationary pressures have been exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict and that it is issuing conservative guidance due to uncertain macroeconomic conditions.
Palo Alto Networks – Palo Alto Networks rallied 12.1% in premarket trading after the cybersecurity company reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its latest quarter. It also raised its full-year guidance for the third time.
Applied Materials – Shares of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker fell 1.2% in the premarket after missing top and bottom-line estimates for its latest quarter. The company also issued a weaker-than-expected forecast. Supply chain issues for Applied Materials have been amplified by the Covid-19 lockdowns in China.
Ollie's Bargain Outlet – The discount retailer’s shares jumped 6.4% in premarket trading after Bank of America Securities double-upgraded the stock to “buy” from “underperform.” BofA based its recommendation on a meaningful improvement in the supply of closeout items, due to over-ordering by retailers and a drop-off in consumer spending on durable goods.
Market News
The People's Bank of China said the five-year loan prime rate was cut to 4.45%, down from 4.6% previously. The cut was unexpected after the central bank kept the key policy rate--the medium-term lending facility that is used to price LPR by commercial banks--unchanged earlier in May.
In another twist of the topsy-turvy Twitter saga, Twitter officials told employees that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s deal to buy the social media platform is still on. That had Twitter investors feeling a little bit better.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet late Thursday that “wild accusations” against him are not true. He did not explain what those accusations were. But his response came after a Business Insider report on Thursday said the aerospace company had paid $250,000 in severance to a flight attendant who accused the billionaire of sexual misconduct.
Wal-Mart-owned retailer Flipkart and listed healthcare chain Apollo Hospitals Enterprise are among potential strategic investors that have signed non-disclosure agreements with Metropolis, while Amazon.com has held preliminary discussions.
Boeing's new Starliner capsule was set for launch Thursday (May 19) on a do-over uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station, aiming to deliver the company a much-needed success after more than 2 years of delays and costly engineering setbacks.
Crown Resorts Ltd approved a $6.3 billion buyout by U.S. private equity giant Blackstone Group LP on Friday, with 99.91% of the votes cast at its scheme meeting in favour of the deal.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing downplayed a report that said it was looking at building a chip manufacturing plant in Singapore, noting it did not have any specific plans at the moment.
NIO Inc. started trading in Singapore on Friday, the third exchange on which investors can trade the stock. It began trading at $16.90 and closed at $17.3 on the Singapore exchange.
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