U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday, signaling a second day of selling on Wall Street as investors feared aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve to tackle inflation, with eyes on minutes from the central bank's March meeting.
Market Snapshot
At 8:15 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 239 points, or 0.69%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 42.5 points, or 0.94%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 231 points, or 1.56%.
Pre-Market Movers
Twitter – Twitter fell 1.5% in premarket trading, potentially breaking a three-day win streak that has seen it gain nearly 32%. Elon Musk – now Twitter’s largest shareholder – changed the type of SEC filing regarding his share purchase to show it was not “passive.”
Spirit Airlines – Spirit said its board will consider a new $3.6 billion cash takeover offer from JetBlue (JBLU). Spirit had agreed in February to be bought by Frontier Airlines parent Frontier Group (ULCC) for $2.9 billion in cash and stock. Spirit slid 2.8% in the premarket, with JetBlue dropping 3.7% and Frontier falling 3.9%.
Tilray – Tilray rose 2.1% in the premarket after reporting an unexpected profit for its latest quarter, even as revenue fell below analyst estimates. The cannabis producer also announced a deal with supermarket chain Whole Foods, which will sell the hemp powders produced by Tilray’s Manitoba Harvest subsidiary.
Rivian – Rivian shares gained 1.7% in the premarket after the company said it was on pace to achieve its previously stated production target of 25,000 electric vehicles this year.
Occidental Petroleum – The energy producer’s shares added 1.7% in premarket action after Stifel Financial began coverage with a “buy” rating. Stifel said Occidental remains attractively priced even after it nearly doubled so far this year, noting a largely underappreciated low carbon business.
Intel – Intel announced it suspended business operations in Russia, following last month’s suspension of semiconductor shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus. Intel fell 1.1% in premarket trading.
Gogo – Gogo surged 10.4% in premarket trading after the aviation industry broadband provider announced its stock would join the S&P SmallCap 600 index prior to Friday’s open.
Array Technologies – Array Technologies rallied 14.5% in the premarket after the renewal energy equipment maker reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and issued an upbeat revenue outlook. It also named Kevin Hostetler as its new CEO, effective April 18, replacing the retiring Jim Fusaro.
Simply Good Foods – The maker of nutritional foods and snacks reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its latest quarter and raised its sales forecast for the current year.
Market News
GM and Honda Are Setting Their Sights on Making Cheaper EVs
General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. are setting their sights on "affordable" electric vehicles, saying Tuesday they are expanding their collaboration.
The EVs would be built on a new architecture and use GM's battery technology. The goal is to produce "millions" of EVs globally starting in 2027, including compact crossovers, the body style U.S. buyers have favored for years, the companies said.
Amazon Announces up to 83 Satellite Launches for Project Kuiper
Amazon announced deals with Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA) to provide heavy-lift launch services for Project Kuiper.
The contracts total up to 83 launches over 5 years, providing capacity for AMZN to deploy the majority of its 3.2K-satellite constellation. As per the company, this is the largest ever commercial procurement of launch vehicles.
Rivian Automotive Reports Q1 Production of 2,553 Vehicles
The company produced 2,553 vehicles at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois and delivered 1,227 vehicles during the same period.
These figures are in line with the company's expectations, and it believes it is well positioned to deliver on the 25,000 annual production guidance provided during its fourth quarter earnings call on March 10, 2022.
Shopify Attracts New Bull as Wells Fargo Forecasts Strong Sales and Market Share Gains
Wells Fargo started off coverage on Shopify with an Overweight rating.
Analyst Jeff Cantwell and team called Shopify a disruptor that they see transitioning into a period characterized by continued expansion in the company’s merchant base and a further deepening of customer relationships. Shopify (SHOP) is also seen capturing disproportionate market share over the next several years.
Boeing Taps Amazon, Microsoft and Google for Cloud Mega-Deal
Boeing Co. is hiring the three biggest U.S. cloud-computing companies -- Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google -- to help with a digital makeover aimed at giving its airplane designers and software developers more tools.
The multiyear agreements are intended to upgrade the company’s current system of hosting and maintaining software applications through a network of servers, which can be difficult to maintain, the Chicago-based manufacturer told employees Wednesday. Boeing plans to shift hundreds of applications to the cloud, where they’ll be stored and maintained in the tech giants’ data centers.