Stock futures were rising Thursday as investors waded through a flurry of Big Tech earnings and shrugged off concerns about rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
These stocks were poised to make moves:
Microsoft tumbled 6.4% in premarket trading even as the software giant's fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue beat analysts' expectations. Investors are worried about Microsoft's cloud division: Revenue for the Azure cloud computing platform rose 39% from a year earlier, down slightly from 40% growth in the first quarter. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said on a conference call that Microsoft that expects third-quarter Azure revenue growth of between 37% and 38% in constant currency. Wall Street was expecting 37.6%.
Meta Platforms rose 7.8% ahead of the opening bell after the parent company of Facebook and Instagram reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates. Meta also issued first-quarter revenue guidance that was better than expected and said capital spending could reach up to $135 billion in 2026, about 20% higher than Wall Street expectations and nearly double from a year earlier.
Tesla gained 2.9% after the electric-vehicle maker's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat Wall Street forecasts. Tesla said it would invest $2 billion to buy Series E preferred shares in xAI, CEO Elon Musk's artificial-intelligence start-up. The company also said it would discontinue production of its higher-end Model X and Model S vehicles, and planned to launch a robo-taxi service in the first half of 2026 in seven new cities.
International Business Machines surged 8.3%, making it the S&P 500's best performer ahead of the opening bell. IBM beat analysts' targets for fourth-quarter profit and revenue as sales in the company's software segment rose 14% to a stronger-than-expected $9 billion.
Lam Research jumped 5.1% after the the chip-manufacturing tool maker topped analyst estimates for fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue. As the AI frenzy accelerates, Lam "ramping execution velocity across the company to support our customers' growth," CEO Tim Archer said.
Las Vegas Sands plummeted 10.2%. The casino and resorts company was the leading decliner in the S&P 500 in premarket trading. The selloff came after adjusted earnings for the key Macao market fell short, in part due to higher events and payroll costs.
SAP plummeted 13% after the German software company topped earnings estimates but missed on revenue for the fourth quarter, with cloud revenue also falling short of expectations. Shares were on track for their worst one-session selloff since October 2020.
ServiceNow slumped 6.1% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter. Investors likely were fretting about a slew of deals the enterprise software company has made as it looks to better position itself in AI.
Southwest Airlines rose 5.9% after the carrier reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and projected a big jump in 2026 profit. Southwest said it was benefiting from revenue initiatives, including charging for seat assignments and extra-legroom seats, along with the checked-bag fees, and continued cost controls.
Apple ticked up 0.4%. The iPhone maker is set to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings after Thursday's closing bell. Investors will be watching iPhone sales, since that's where Apple makes most of its revenue, as well as memory costs, which have surged due to the rise in demand for AI.
In addition to Apple, earnings reports are expected Thursday from Visa, Mastercard, Caterpillar, KLA Corp., Honeywell International, Lockheed Martin, Comcast, Altria, Blackstone, Western Digital, and Royal Caribbean.
Comments