U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday, putting Wall Street on course for a positive start to March, as strong Chinese manufacturing data outweighed concerns that the Federal Reserve's policies will remain restrictive for longer.
Market Snapshot
At 7:30 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 68 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 11.5 points, or 0.29%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 53.5 points, or 0.44%.
Pre-Market Movers
Novavax Inc slumped 23.3% in premarket trading after the COVID-19 vaccine maker raised doubts about its ability to remain in business and announced plans to slash spending as it prepares for a fall vaccination campaign.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc slid 8.4% after the theatre chain posted a more than 15% fall in fourth-quarter revenue.
Nvidia Corp slipped 0.9% as the chipmaker filed a mixed shelf offering of as much as $10 billion.
Tesla Inc rose 1.3% ahead of an investor day event. The electric carmaker is readying a production revamp of its top-selling Model Y, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the plan.
Rivian— Shares of the electric vehicle maker tumbled more than 9% after the company posted mixed fourth-quarter results and an underwhelming production outlook. Revenue for the quarter came in at $663 million, falling well below analysts' estimates of $742 million, according to Refinitiv. Rivian reported a smaller-than-expected loss, however.
Sarepta Therapeutics— The biotech stock soared by 17% afterMorgan Stanley upgraded Sarepta sharesto overweight from equal weight. Analyst Matthew Harrison said the compay's path for SRP-9001, an investigational gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), now appears "de-risked."
Spotify— The audio streaming giant's stock price rose 1.3%. Redburn upgraded the stock to buy earlier in the day, noting that it sees stronger margins as headwinds from investments, publishing royalty increases and foreign exchange wane.
Kohl's— Shares of the retailer fell more than 8% after Kohl'sreported a surprise lossfor the fourth quarter, with CEO Tom Kingsbury saying that sales were pressured by the "ongoing inflationary environment." Kohl's reported a loss of $2.49 per share on $5.78 billion of revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected positive earnings of 98 cents per share on $5.99 billion of revenue.
Monster Beverage— Shares of the beverage company were down 4.8% after Monster released earnings after Tuesday's closing bell, posting quarterly earnings of 57 cents per share while analysts surveyed by StreetAccount anticipated 63 cents per share. Monster reported $1.51 billion in revenue, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.6 billion.
Lowe's— The home improvement retailer’s fiscal fourth-quarter sales fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, with revenue coming in at $22.45 billion versus the $22.69 billion expected, per Refinitiv. However, adjusted earnings per share of $2.28 topped a forecast of $2.21. Lowe’s was essentially flat in the premarket, up 0.22%.
First Solar— The solar stock added 5.4% in premarket trading after First Solar issued full-year guidance that was ahead of expectations on per-share earnings and revenue. On Tuesday, First Solar reported a fourth-quarter loss of 7 cents per share compared with a 17 cent per-share loss forecasted by analysts surveyed by FactSet. The company’s revenue came in line with expectations at $1 billion.
Market News
Tesla Readies Revamp of Model Y Codenamed "Juniper"
Tesla is readying a production revamp of its top-selling Model Y, according to three people with knowledge of the plan.
The changes to the Model Y – code-named Project Juniper at Tesla - involve the exterior and interior of the crossover electric vehicle with a target of starting production in 2024, according to two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the planning remains private.
Nio's Q4 Loss Widens Despite Higher Revenue
NIO reported a loss of 51 cents a share on revenue of $2.33 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of 26 cents a share.
The company said that for the first quarter of 2023 it expects to deliver between 31,000 and 33,000 vehicles, up 20% to 28% from the same quarter in 2022.
Nvidia Files Mixed Shelf Offering of up to $10 Bln
U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp filed a mixed shelf offering of as much as $10 billion with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
The mixed shelf will include shares of its common stock, preferred stock, warrants, debt securities and purchase contracts, the company said.
Li Auto Delivered 16,620 Vehicles In February 2023, Up 97.5% YoY
Li Auto Inc. today announced that the Company delivered 16,620 vehicles in February 2023, up 97.5% year over year. The cumulative deliveries of Li Auto vehicles reached 289,095 as of the end of February.
As of February 28, 2023, the Company had 298 retail stores in 122 cities, as well as 317 servicing centers and Li Auto-authorized body and paint shops operating in 223 cities.
XPeng Delivered 6,010 Smart EVs In Feb. 2023, a 15% Increase MoM
In February 2023, XPENG delivered 6,010 Smart EVs, representing a 15% increase over the prior month.
In parallel with efforts to accelerate market share gains domestically, the Company continued to extend its presence in international markets. In February 2023, XPENG opened its second retail stores in both Denmark and the Netherlands. At the same time, the first European service center also started operation in Lørenskog, Norway.
Marathon Digital Finds Accounting Errors, Will Restate 2021, 2022 Results
Marathon Digital said it will restate its full year 2021 and quarterly earnings for that year and for the first three quarters of 2022 due to accounting errors.
Specifically, the bitcoin miner determined that it had incorrectly calculated impairment on a daily basis of its digital assets and it had incorrectly accounted for revenue from a bitcoin mining pool that it had participated in and operated in late 2021 and early 2022.