U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday after a week of volatile trading spurred on by mixed quarterly results from Big Tech. Peloton jumped on interest from potential buyers including e-commerce giant Amazon.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 32 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 8 points, or 0.18% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 43.5 points, or 0.30%.
Spirit Airlines – Spirit surged 11.4% in the premarket after announcingit would buy competitor Frontier Airlinesin a stock swap deal valued at $6.6 billion including assumed debt. Shares of Frontier’s parent companyFrontier Group(ULCC) fell 2.4%.
Peloton – Peloton rocketed 34% higherin premarket trading, following reports that bothAmazon.com(AMZN) andNike(NKE) are mulling possible bids for the fitness equipment maker. The reports come a few days after activist investor Blackwells Capital urged Peloton’s board to consider a sale of the company.
Energizer – The company best known for its batteries saw its stock surge 5.7% in premarket trading after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Energizer beat estimates by 8 cents share, with a profit of $1.03 per share. Revenue also topped Wall Street forecasts. Energizer warned the current operating environment remains “very volatile.”
Zimmer Biomet – The maker of orthopedic and other medical products reported quarterly earnings of $1.95 per share, missing consensus estimates by 3 cents a share. Revenue came in short of analysts’ forecasts. The company said the ongoing pandemic continued to pressure its business during the quarter, and the stock slid 5.4% in the premarket.
Hasbro – Hasbro added 2.2% in premarket trading after the toymaker beat top- and bottom-line estimates for its latest quarter. Hasbro earned $1.21 per share, well above the 88 cents a share consensus estimate. Revenue in its television, film and entertainment business jumped 61% from a year earlier. Hasbro also increased its quarterly dividend by 3% to 70 cents per share.
Tyson Foods – Tyson rallied 4.2% in the premarket following its quarterly earnings report. The company beat estimates by 97 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of $2.87 per share. The beef and poultry producer’s revenue also beat analysts’ forecasts. Tyson said it was on track to achieve $1 billion in productivity savings by the end of fiscal 2024.
Bumble – The dating service operator announcedthe acquisition of European dating app company Fruitzfor an undisclosed amount, Bumble’s first-ever acquisition deal. Fruitz is especially popular among Gen Z consumers.
Ford – Ford fell 1.1% in premarket action after announcing it will suspend or cut production at eight of its North American factories due to the global semiconductor shortage. Those changes will be in effect throughout this week.
Spotify – Spotify CEO Daniel Ek saidhe strongly condemns racial slursused by podcaster Joe Rogan, but said removing his podcast from the Spotify platform is not the answer. A number of popular music artists have had their music pulled from Spotify amid the controversy over Rogan’s comments on Covid-19. Spotify shares fell 2% in the premarket.
Snowflake – The cloud data platform provider’s stock rallied 4.8% in the premarket after Morgan Stanley upgraded it to “overweight” from “equal-weight,” saying investors are undervaluing Snowflake’s potential for durability and quality of growth.
Market News
Tesla may be working on its own Apple-like app store that would enable owners of its electric vehicles to download and install apps, much like on an Apple or Android smartphone.
Amazon is exploring an offer for Peloton and is speaking with advisers about whether and how to proceed. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that sportswear company Nike Inc. is also evaluating a bid for Peloton.
Alibaba Group registered one billion American depositary shares that hadn’t been registered before, suggesting SoftBank Group Corp. may intend to sell some of its shares.
Ford plans to suspend production of vehicles including the Ford Bronco, the popular F-150 pickup and the new Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle at its plants in Michigan, Illinois and Mexico.
Swedish price comparison firm PriceRunner said on Monday it is suing Alphabet-owned Google for about 2.1 billion euros ($2.40 billion), the latest firm to take legal action alleging the search giant manipulated search results.
Apple is preparing to announce a new low-cost 5G iPhone and iPad at the event and potentially a new Mac. The launch would be Apple's first since October 2021, when it revealed new MacBook Pro laptops.
The Biden administration is considering a Chevron Corp proposal to allow the U.S. oil major to accept and trade Venezuelan oil cargoes to recoup unpaid debt, four people close to the discussions said.
Spirit Airlines and Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. said Monday they have agreed to merge in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $6.6 billion including net debt and operating lease liabilities. Under the terms of the deal, Spirit shareholders will receive 1.9126 Frontier shares plus $2.13 in cash for each share owned.
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