Stock futures are near flat Wednesday as investors awaited new U.S. inflation data.
Traders are awaiting November’s consumer price index reading due in the morning. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting the inflation gauge, which tracks a basket of goods and services, to rise 0.3% from October and 2.7% compared with a year ago. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core CPI is slated to increase 0.3% on the month and 3.3% from 12 months earlier.
That comes ahead of the producer price index report expected later in the week. Those are two of the last major economic data releases anticipated before the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Fed funds futures are pricing in a more than 85% likelihood that the central bank lowers interest rates at that gathering, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Market Snapshot
At 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded just below the flatline. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures ticked higher by 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Palantir up 2%.
Pre-Market Movers
GameStop, the videogame retailer, reported a surprise third-quarter profit and the stock was up 1.5% in premarket trading even as sales in the period dropped 20% from a year earlier to $860 million. GameStop earned 6 cents a share on an adjusted basis in the quarter. GameStop also said it completed a previously disclosed "at-the-market" equity offering program in the quarter by selling 20 million common shares for about $400 million. The company said it doesn't anticipate any more offerings of its stock during the current fiscal year.
General Motors scrapped its Cruise robotaxi program and shares of the auto maker were up 1%. GM said it would be combining Cruise and GM's technical teams into one self-driving entity. GM will "no longer fund Cruise's robotaxi development work," citing an "increasingly competitive robotaxi market."
Tesla Motors rose 1.5%, putting shares of the electric-vehicle maker on track for a sixth-straight session of gains. Coming into Wednesday, the stock has risen 61% this year and about 59% since the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5. Expectations that CEO Elon Musk's relationship with President-elect Donald Trump will benefit Tesla have helped push the stock higher. Tesla's split-adjusted all-time closing high is $409.97; the stock's all-time intraday high is $414.50. Both levels were reached on Nov. 4. 2021.
GE Vernova Inc. said its board initiated a quarterly dividend payout of 25 cents a share and launched a $6 billion stock buyback program. The stock fell 2.3%, however, after the company, a provider of equipment and services to power plants and wind farms, raised its outlook for both fiscal 2024 and 2025 but the forecasts were weaker than analysts' expectations.
Walgreens Boots Alliance was down 2% in premarket trading after shares of the pharmacy chain closed Tuesday with a gain of 17.7%, the stock's largest daily percentage increase on record. Boosting the stock Tuesday was a report from The Wall Street Journal that said Walgreens was in talks to sell itself to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal that could be completed early next year, assuming talks don't fall apart.
Stitch Fix Inc. was rising 21% after the online personal styling company posted a fiscal first-quarter loss that narrowed from a year earlier and revenue of $318.8 million that beat consensus, and said it expects fiscal-year revenue of between $1.14 billion and $1.18 billion, up from prior guidance of between $1.11 billion and $1.16 billion.
Earnings reports are expected Wednesday from Adobe, Nordson, and Oxford.
Market News
Super Micro Stock Falls. CEO Fails to Reassure Market About SMCI’s Nasdaq Future
SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC stock was falling early Wednesday after its CEO’s attempts to ease concerns about a potential delisting from the Nasdaq 100 seemingly failed to convince the market. Shares were falling another 4% in early premarket trading, after having closed down 8.2% Tuesday.
However, the company’s CEO Charles Liang said he is “confident” shares won’t get delisted from the tech-heavy index, when he spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the Reuters NEXT event in New York Tuesday. The company was recently granted an extension to file its delayed annual and quarterly reports by Feb. 25, avoiding the immediate threat of delisting. Liang also said these would be filed by the new deadline.
Macy's Cuts Adjusted Profit Forecast, Shares Fall 10%
Macy's on Wednesday cut its annual profit forecast, as it struggles with increased promotions during the holiday shopping season amid weak demand at its eponymous stores, sending the shares of the department store chain down 10% before the bell.
The company is in the middle of a turnaround effort under CEO Tony Spring and has had to rely on its luxury outlets Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury to lift sales, even as shoppers defer purchases at its nameplate stores.
It expects annual adjusted profit per share $2.25 to $2.50, compared with prior expectation of $2.34 to $2.69, which was adjusted to account for an accounting error.
Krispy Kreme says cybersecurity incident is impacting online orders in US
Doughnut chain Krispy Kreme, Inc. said on Wednesday that unauthorized activity on a portion of its information technology systems has disrupted certain operations, including online ordering in the United States.
Shares of the company were down about 1.2% in premarket trading.
After being notified of the incident on Nov. 29, the company has initiated an investigation and is working with external cybersecurity experts to mitigate the impact, it said in a regulatory filing.
Comments