U.S. Stocks to Watch: Tesla, FedEx, Nike, U.S. Steel, Micron, BlackBerry, and More

Dow Jones12-20 18:28

Stock futures were falling Friday ahead of the latest reading on inflation and as the U.S. government headed toward a shutdown. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a 10-session losing streak, eking out a gain of less than 0.1%.

These stocks were poised to make moves Friday:

Tesla was down 4.8% after falling 0.9% on Thursday. Coming into Friday, the stock has risen 75% this year.

Micron Technology ended Thursday's session down 16% and was falling a further 2.5% in premarket trading after the largest U.S. maker of memory chips issued a weak outlook for its fiscal second quarter.

FedEx was rising 8% after the shipping and logistics giant said it would spin off its freight trucking business and reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings of $4.05 a share that topped analysts' forecasts. FedEx said its goal was to complete the separation of the freight business, the largest less-than-truckload operator in the U.S., within 18 months. The company did, however, cut fiscal-year guidance, saying it expects earnings of $19 to $20 a share, down from prior guidance of $20 to $21 a share, and revenue roughly flat with a year earlier compared with a previous forecast of a low single-digit percentage increase.

Fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue at Nike topped Wall Street expectations but shares fell 3.1% after the sportswear company said it expects third-quarter revenue to fall by low double-digits -- worse than analysts' estimates that called for a 7.7% decrease. Nike also said gross margins will be down about 3 to 3.5 percentage points in the period under its restructuring plan. "We're taking the long-term view here," said CEO Elliott Hill, the company veteran who started as chief in mid-October.. "We're making the decisions that are best for the health of our brand and business, decisions that will drive shareholder value."

U.S. Steel declined 5.82% after saying it expects a fourth-quarter adjusted loss of between 25 cents and 29 cents a share, well below analysts' expectations that called for a profit of 22 cents. The steel company also reduced its outlook for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to $150 million, down from $225 million to $275 million. "Steel prices remained depressed," said Chief Executive David B. Burritt in a statement.

BlackBerry reported third-quarter adjusted profit of 2 cents a share, better than Wall Street estimates that called for an adjusted loss of 1 cent, but reduced its fiscal-year outlook ahead of closing the sale of its Cylance endpoint security assets. The stock was down 5.4%.

Mission Produce, the avocado farming company, posted fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 28 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates, as revenue jumped 37% from a year earlier. For the fiscal first quarter of 2025, the company said it expects industry volumes to be consistent with the prior-year period, while pricing will be about 20% higher. The stock was up 6.6%.

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