U.S. stock index futures slipped on Wednesday as doubts of a less dovish Federal Reserve lifted Treasury yields, while investors weighed earnings reports from companies such as Boeing, Coca-Cola and Tesla to assess the state of the economy.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 208 points, or 0.48%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 12.25 points, or 0.121%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 63.25 points, or 0.31%.
Pre-Market Movers
Qualcomm, ARM - Qualcomm was down 2.9% after a report from Bloomberg said Arm Holdings was canceling a license that allowed Qualcomm to use Arm intellectual property to design chips, escalating a feud between the two companies. U.S.-listed shares of Arm declined 3.5%.
McDonald's - Shares of McDonald’s dropped 6.8% in premarket trading after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies said it wasinvestigating an E. coli outbreaklinked to the fast-food giant’s Quarter-Pounder hamburgers that has caused one death. The CDC said so far there has been 49 reported cases, and 10 hospitalizations. Illnesses have been reported in 10 states, with the most cases in Colorado and Nebraska. McDonald’s said it was “temporarily removing” the Quarter Pounder from restaurants in the impacted areas.
Starbucks - Starbucks tumbled 3.4% in premarket trading after issuingpreliminary fiscal fourth-quarter results that missed analysts’ estimatesand suspending guidance for its next fiscal year. The coffee chain said adjusted earnings would be 80 cents a share in the fourth quarter, same-store sales fell 7% from a year earlier, and revenue declined 3% to $9.1 billion. Starbucks said the results were “primarily driven by softness in North America’s revenues in the quarter.” CEO Brian Niccol, who joined Starbucks in August, said the company’s “fourth-quarter performance makes it clear that we need to fundamentally change our strategy so we can get back to growth.”
Spirit Airlines - Spirit Airlines jumped 27% after The Wall Street Journal reported Frontier Airlines was exploring a renewed bidfor the struggling carrier.
Phunware, Rumble, Trump Media & Technology - Trump-linked stocks jumped again in premarket trading Wednesday as as investors bet on former President Donald Trump's improved odds of winning the November election in exactly two weeks. Phunware rose 20%; Rumble rose 7%; Trump Media rose 3%.
Coca-Cola - Coca-Cola easily beat quarterly estimates for earnings and sales but headwinds in financial forecasts seemed to be weighing on the stock. The shares dropped 1.5%.
Boeing - Boeing reported a more than $6 billion loss for the third quarter, its largest since 2020 when the pandemic halted most aircraft demand and its best-selling airplane was grounded after two crashes. The shares dropped 1%.
AT&T - AT&T was up 3.1% after the telecommunications company reportedthird-quarter revenuethat missed analysts’ estimates but better-than-expected adjusted earnings. AT&T reported 403,000 postpaid phone net additions in the quarter, below the 419,000 posted in the latest second quarter and below analysts’ estimates of 435,500.
Texas Instruments - Texas Instruments reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations and the semiconductor company issued guidance for the fourth quarter was lower than estimates. Texas Instruments said it expects current-quarter earnings of $1.07 to $1.29 a share, below predictions of $1.34 a share, on revenue of $3.7 billion to $4 billion, below consensus of $4.06 billion. Chief Executive Haviv Ilan said revenue at the company’s industrial segment ”continued to decline sequentially, while all other end markets grew.” Overall revenue rose 9% to $4.15 billion. The stock was rising 3%.
Enphase Energy - Third-quarter earnings at Enphase Energy widely missed analysts’ estimates and the company’s forecast for fourth-quarter revenue came in well under expectations. U.S. revenue in the third quarter rose 43% from the second quarter but revenue in Europe declined 15%. The solar and battery-system supplier said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $360 million to $400 million, below consensus of $434 million. The stock fell 15.2%.
Seagate Technology - Seagate Technology fell 4.6% after the data storage company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, and said it expects fiscal second-quarter revenue of $2.3 billion, roughly in line with expectations.
Tesla - Tesla slipped 0.5% in premarket trading. The electric-vehicle maker is expected by Wall Street to reportthird-quarter adjusted earningsof 60 cents a share on revenue of $25.47 billion, up from $23.35 billion a year earlier. Analysts expect third-quarter operating profit margins of about 8%, up from 6.3% in the second quarter and about 7.6% in the third quarter of 2023. Tesla’s report is scheduled for after the close of trading Wednesday.
Market News
Arm to Scrap Qualcomm Chip Design License in Feud Escalation
Arm Holdings Plc is canceling a license that allowed longtime partner Qualcomm Inc. to use Arm intellectual property to design chips, escalating a legal dispute over vital smartphone technology.
Arm, based in the UK, has given Qualcomm a mandated 60-day notice of the cancellation of their so-called architectural license agreement, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. The contract allows Qualcomm to create its own chips based on standards owned by Arm.
The showdown threatens to roil the smartphone and personal computer markets, as well as disrupting the finances and operations of two of the most influential companies in the semiconductor industry.
Apple CEO Vows More China Investment in Meeting With Tech Czar
Apple Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook promised to keep investing in China during a meeting with Beijing’s top technology official, underscoring the country’s vital role in the iPhone maker’s global operations.
Cook, making his second visit to the country this year, told China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong that Apple would “continue to grow its investments in China and help the high-quality development of the supply chain,” according to a ministry post on WeChat.
Jin reportedly urged Cook in their Wednesday meeting to continue investing more in innovation in the country. They talked about Apple’s presence in China, cloud services and the secure management of online data, the agency said, without providing further details.