U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Tuesday in a data-packed week, with job openings figures due later in the day that will provide further clues on the state of the economy.
Market Snapshot
At 8:20 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 26 points, or 0.08%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 3 points, or 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 13.5 points, or 0.09%.
Pre-Market Movers
Oracle — The software giant rose 2.7% after UBS upgraded Oracle to a buy from neutral, saying that shares could rally another 20% due to artificial intelligence-related tailwinds.
AT&T, Verizon — AT&T and Verizon rose about 1.6% each after Citi upgraded the telecommunication companies to buy, citing a stabilizing competitive wireless environment. The firm also said that their current valuations may be over discounting remediation costs related to lead-covered cables.
Best Buy — Best Buy rose about 1.3% after topping Wall Street’s fiscal second-quarter expectations on the top and bottom lines. The retailer reported adjusted earnings of $1.22 a share, ahead of the $1.06 expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. Revenues came in at $9.58 billion, versus the $9.52 billion anticipated. Best Buy also trimmed its full-year revenue outlook.
Big Lots — Shares of the home discount retailer surged 14% after posting a smaller-than-expected loss. Big Lots reported a loss of $3.24 per share, versus the $4.11-loss per expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue came in at $1.14 billion, ahead of the $1.10 billion anticipated.
PDD Holdings — U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese e-commerce company popped over 12% after PDD reported second-quarter earnings that surpasses Wall Street’s expectations. PDD also said it saw a “positive shift in consumer sentiment” during the second quarter.
3M – Shares of the industrial products maker were higher by less than 1% in early morning trading after the company agreed to pay more than $6 billion to settle lawsuits by current and former U.S. military service members over defective combat earplugs.
Heico — The engine and aircraft part manufacturer lost more than 5% even after topping fiscal third-quarter revenue expectations. Heico reported revenue of $723 million for the previous quarter, ahead of the $702 million expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. Heico did report a decline in operating margins to 20.7% from 22.6% a year ago.
Nio — Nio’s stock lost more than 6% before the bell after the Chinese electric vehicle company reported a wider-than-expected loss quarterly loss. Deliveries also declined from the year-ago period.
J.M. Smucker — Shares of the snack food company rose more than 2% after J.M. Smucker’s fiscal first-quarter earnings topped expectations. The company reported $2.21 in adjusted earnings per share, while analysts were looking for $2.02 per share, according to FactSet’s StreetAccount. J.M. Smucker’s revenue of $1.81 billion did come in under estimates of $1.84 billion, but the company raised its earnings guidance.
BYD — The Chinese automaker’s U.S.-traded shares rose more than 2% Tuesday premarket, a day after it announced a 204.68% jump in net profit for the first half of 2023.
Toyota Motor — U.S.-listed shares of Toyota Motor lost about 1% after the automaker halted production at its assembly plants in Japan due to a system malfunction.
Market News
Google Chases Microsoft, Amazon Cloud Market Share With AI Tools
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, is planning to outline the offerings to thousands of customers at Google’s annual cloud conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, while making widely available a number of tools that can help draft emails or summarize lengthy documents stored in the cloud.
The company also plans to announce Tuesday the general availability of a suite of AI-powered tools for corporate Gmail accounts and other workplace software products. The tools will cost an extra $30 a month per person, matching the price Microsoft will charge for a competing offering in its flagship 365 suite, which is still in testing with select businesses.
Intel Says New Sierra Forest Chip to More Than Double Power Efficiency
At a semiconductor technology conference held at Stanford University in Silicon Valley, Intel said its "Sierra Forest" chip will have 240% better performance per watt than its current generation of data center chip, the first time the company has disclosed such figures.
The data centers that power the internet and online services consume huge amounts of electricity, and technology firms are increasingly facing pressure to hold steady or reduce the amount of energy they use. That has pushed chip companies to focus on how to get more computing work done per chip.
Uber Eats' New AI Chatbot Will Offer Recommendations to Customers
An artificial intelligence chatbot under development at Uber Technologies Inc. will offer recommendations to food-delivery customers and help them more quickly place orders, part of a race to integrate AI into popular apps.
Details of the Uber program were discovered inside of code hidden within its Eats app, providing a peek into a feature that hasn’t yet been announced. When a user launches the chatbot, the software will show a message that says the “AI assistant was designed to help you find relevant restaurant dishes and more,” according to wording within the code, which was discovered by developer Steve Moser and shared with Bloomberg News.
Japan EV Battery Technology Company Noco-noco Soars 58% Premarket
Japan’s advanced electric battery technology company noco-noco Inc. starts trading on the Nasdaq on Monday, helping move its sustainability efforts one step closer to mainstream use. Noco-noco shares surged 58% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
The company, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based 3Dom Alliance Inc., is making its debut under the symbol NCNC after merging with the blank-check company Prime Number Acquisition I Corp, it said in a statement. It plans to enter the domestic leasing business with electric vehicles that use its battery separator technology to help improve longevity and heat resistance.
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