U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Thursday ahead of economic growth data as Tesla's bullish sales outlook eased worries over the fallout of an economic slowdown on the EV maker.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 40 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 17.75 points, or 0.44%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 110.75 points, or 0.93%.
Pre-Market Movers
Southwest Airlines — The airline dropped 2.1% after reporting a $220 million loss for the fourth quarter after the holiday meltdown cost the company millions in expenses and drove up expenses.
Comcast — The media company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations, with earnings per share coming in at 82 cents, adjusted, versus the 77 cents expected from analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. Revenue was $30.55 billion compared to the $30.32 expected. Shares, however, were down less than 1% in the premarket.
Tesla Motors — The electric-vehicle maker soared 7% after reporting record revenue and an earnings beat. CEO Elon Musk said Tesla might be able to produce 2 million cars this year.
Las Vegas Sands — Shares of the hotel and casino operator rose about 4% despite the company posting weaker-than-expected financial results for the most recent quarter. Wall Street analysts cited upbeat comments about its reopening in Macao on the company earnings call for their positive outlook on the stock.
Levi Strauss & Co — Shares of the denim maker popped 6% premarket on a better-than-expected quarterly report. Levi Strauss topped analysts’ revenue estimates and beat earnings projections by 5 cents a share.
Blackstone Group LP — Blackstone shares dipped less than 1% after the asset manager reported mixed earnings results. Total segment revenues fell short of expectations, while distributable earnings beat estimates by 12 cents a share.
Chevron — The energy giant jumped more than 3% in premarket after the company announced a$75 billion stock buyback programand a dividend hike to $1.51 from $1.42 per share. The buyback program will become effective on April 1.
Dow Chemical — The chemicals giant posted fourth-quarter earnings, revenue and adjusted EBITDA that missed analyst expectations before the bell Thursday, sending the stock down more than 3% in premarket trading.
IBM — Shares of IBM shed 2.7% after the company reported quarterly results Wednesday that generally exceeded Wall Street’s expectations but included an announcement that the firm will cut 3,900 jobs. IBM reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.60 per share on $16.69 billion in revenue where analysts expected $3.60 per share and $16.4 billion in revenue, per Refinitiv.
American Airlines — The airline gained 1.5% after its fourth-quarter profits beat Wall Street’s expectations, thanks to strong holiday demand and high fares.
Seagate Technology PLC — The data storage company jumped more than 8% in premarket trading after reporting earnings and revenue for the last quarter that beat expectations.
Pfizer — The pharma giant was downgraded by UBS on Thursday, which said Pfizer’s Covid franchise estimates need to come down and its pipeline is too premature. Pfizer was up less than 1% in the premarket.
Market News
The US Federal Trade Commission filed its lawsuit to block Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of gaming company Activision Blizzard Inc. in December partly to get ahead of its European counterparts and dissuade them from accepting a settlement allowing the deal, according to people familiar with the investigations.
Tesla Motors said revenue was $24.32 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, net profit for the quarter was $3.69 billion, or $1.07 per share, compared with $2.32 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier.
Meta Platforms, Inc. said on Wednesday it will restore former U.S. President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks, following a two-year suspension after the deadly Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021.
Chevron on Wednesday said it would triple its share buyback program to $75 billion, the oil industry's most ambitious shareholder payouts to date, as high oil and gas prices pad profits.
IBM on Wednesday said it would lay off 3,900 people as part of some asset divestments and posted flat fourth-quarter revenue due to lackluster demand for its consulting services.
Lam Research will eliminate about 1,300 jobs worldwide, Chief Executive Officer Tim Archer said on a conference call Wednesday. The overall market for chip equipment will sink to about $75 billion this year, down roughly $20 billion from the prior year, he predicted.
ServiceNow subscription revenue increased 22% to $1.86 billion,total revenue jumped 20% to $1.94 billion in the period ended Dec. 31,profit, excluding some items, was $2.28 a share.
For the last three months of 2022, LendingClub saw net income decline almost 19% to $23.6 million, it expects to make between $1.9 billion to $2.2 billion of loans in the first quarter of this year.
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