U.S. stock futures were under pressure again on Thursday with the S&P 500 on the brink of a bear market. Investors continued to dump equities on fears Federal Reserve rate hikes to fight rapid inflation would tip the economy into a recession.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 288 points, or 0.92%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 34 points, or 0.87%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 106 points, or 0.89%.
Pre-Market Movers
Kohl's – Kohl’s reported adjusted quarterly earnings of 11 cents per share, well short of the 70-cent consensus estimate. Revenue was better than expected, but the retailer noted a tough sales environment as well as higher costs. Kohl’s shares fell 3.3% in premarket trading.
BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. – The warehouse retailer jumped 5.8% in the premarket after an upbeat earnings report. BJ’s beat estimates by 15 cents with adjusted quarterly earnings of 87 cents per share. Revenue and comparable-store sales were also better than expected.
Spirit Airlines – The airline’s board unanimously recommended that shareholders rejectJetBlue’s (JBLU) $30 per share tender offer. Spirit said a JetBlue transaction would have little chance of clearing regulatory hurdles, and it is moving ahead with its plan to merge with Frontier Airlines parent Frontier Group(ULCC). Spirit fell 1.7% in premarket trading.
Canada Goose – The outerwear maker’s stock rallied 8.9% in premarket action after the company reported an unexpected profit as well as better-than-expected revenue. Canada Goose also raised its full-year forecast.
Target,Wal-Mart – The two retailers remain on watch after both suffered their worst one-day drops since October 1987 following their quarterly earnings reports this week. A surge in costs led both to report earnings that came in far below expectations.
Cisco – Cisco tumbled 10.7% in the premarket after cutting its full-year forecast. The networking equipment maker is seeing its sales hit by Covid lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine. Networking rivals fell in the wake of Cisco’s forecast with Juniper Networks(JNPR) down 4.6% in the premarket and Broadcom(AVGO) down 3.8%.
Under Armour Class A – Under Armour CEO Patrik Frisk is stepping down, as of June 1, to be replaced on an interim basis by Chief operating Officer Colin Browne. Frisk became CEO of the athletic apparel maker at the beginning of 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and sales have fallen nearly 50% since then. Under Armour slid 5.3% in premarket trading.
Bath & Body Works Inc. – Bath & Body Works reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its latest quarter, but the personal care products retailer cut its full-year earnings forecast due to inflationary factors and increased investments. The stock slumped 6.8% in the premarket.
Synopsys – Synopsys rallied 4.2% in premarket trading after the design automation software company reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its latest quarter and issued an upbeat forecast.
Market News
Apple is once again promoting its privacy features in a new ad campaign that takes shots at everything from competing email services to, well, virtually the entire internet.
Billionaire Leo Koguan, who claims to be the third largest individual shareholder of Tesla Motors, is calling on the carmaker to announce a $15 billion stock buyback as the company’s share price continues to fall.
Shareholders in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. on Thursday approved a merger with BHP Group's petroleum arm to create a top 10 global independent oil and gas producer worth $40 billion, according to proxy votes shown at the company's annual meeting.
Under Armour Chief Executive Officer Patrik Frisk is stepping down from the struggling athletic-wear brand after disappointing quarterly results hammered the stock this month.
Spirit Airlines executives are emphatically rejecting JetBlue’s unsolicited offer to takeover the low-cost carrier after receiving two prior offers in April and May. The airline’s board urged shareholders to reject JetBlue’s (JBLU) and instead vote for the planned merger with Frontier Air Group (ULCC).
Xiaomi Corp. 's revenue decreased by 4.6% to RMB73.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022 on a year-on-year basis. Gross profit decreased by 10.2% from RMB14.2 billion in the first quarter of 2021 to RMB12.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
Grab Holdings reported $228.00 million in sales this quarter. This is a 5.56 percent increase over sales of $216.00 million the same period last year. It expected full-year 2022 YoY growth in Group GMV to be between 30% and 35% and full-year 2022 revenue to be between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion.
Hedge fund manager Gabe Plotkin, who boasted one of Wall Street's best investing records, on Wednesday told investors that he is shutting down his firm, Melvin Capital, after it suffered billions of dollars in losses.