U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Tuesday as investors prepared for a bevy of corporate results, most notably from Alphabet $(GOOGL)$ to gauge the strength of the technology sector.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 133 points, or 0.31%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 6.75 points, or 0.12%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 4.25 points, or 0.02%.
Pre-Market Movers
Trump-linked stocks continued to jump in premarket trading. Trump Media & Technology rose 20%; Rumble rose over 5%. Shares of Donald Trump’s social media company surged more than 21% Monday, on the heels of the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign rally in New York City.
Crypto stocks gained in premarket trading. MicroStrategy, CleanSpark rose over 5%; Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms rose over 3%; Coinbase rose over 2%. Bitcoin climbed above $71,000 for the first time since June, as traders speculate about potential outcomes from next week's US election.
Chinese ADRs and ETFs rise in premarket trading on the news. China A50 index futures jump 1.1%. According to Reuters, China is considering approving next week the issuance of over 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) in extra debt in the next few years to revive its fragile economy, a fiscal package which is expected to be further bolstered if Donald Trump wins the U.S. election, said two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Ford Motor was falling 6% in premarket trading after the auto maker reported third-quarter operating profit of $2.6 billion that matched analysts' expectations but said it expected full-year operating profit of about $10 billion, at the bottom of guidance provided in July of $10 billion and $12 billion. Revenue in the period rose 5% to $46.2 billion. Electric-vehicle losses in the third quarter, however, were $1.2 billion, with Ford saying "$500 million of year-over-year cost improvements were offset by expected industrywide pricing pressure."
VF Corp, which owns brands such as Vans, North Face, and Timberland, reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings of 60 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates of 38 cents, and revenue of $2.76 billion beat forecasts of $2.72 billion even though it fell 6% from a year earlier. "Our Americas regional platform is fully operational and showing promising signs, while the performance at Vans is improving," said CEO Bracken Darrell. The stock rallied 19%.
Pfizer posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.06 a share, smashing consensus of 61 cents. Revenue rose 31% to $17.7 billion from a year earlier and topped analysts' estimates of $14.92 billion. The pharmaceuticals giant also raised guidance for 2024. Shares rose 1.98%.
SoFi Technologies was up 3.8% in premarket trading after the fintech company reported its fourth straight quarter of profitability and topped analysts' estimates.
PayPal Holdings was down 6.33%. The payments company beat estimates for adjusted earnings in the third quarter and said for the fiscal year it now expects adjusted earnings per share to grow in the high teens, compared with an earlier forecast of low to mid-teens growth.
D.R. Horton declined 7.7% after the home builder reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $10 billion, falling from $10.5 billion a year earlier and missing Wall Street estimates of $10.2 billion.
Cadence Design Systems jumped 5.9% after the provider of semiconductor-design software posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.64 a share on sales of $1.22 billion, better than estimates that called for earnings of $1.44 a share on sales of $1.18 billion. The company also raised its fiscal-year outlook.
F5 Inc. was up 10% after the multi-cloud application services provider reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that were better than expected. F5 posted adjusted earnings in the period of $3.67 a share, beating estimates of $3.45. Revenue of $747 million topped forecasts of about $730 million.
Oil company BP reported third-quarter underlying replacement-cost profit of $2.27 billion, down from $3.29 billion a year earlier but better than analysts' estimates of $2.05 billion. The company said weaker realized refining margins and lower oil prices led to the quarterly earnings decline. U.S.-listed shares of BP fell 2.4%.
Alphabet rose 0.4% in premarket trading ahead of earnings scheduled for after the closing bell Tuesday. Google's parent company is expected by Wall Street to report third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.84 a share on revenue of $86.37 billion, up from year-earlier profit of $1.55 a share on revenue of $76.7 billion. Analysts expect search revenue to rise to $49.02 billion from $44.02 billion in the same period last year and $48.51 billion posted last quarter. The stock has gained 19% this year.
Market News
Finance Heavyweights Don’t Think Fed Will Cut Twice This Year
Some of the world’s biggest names in finance, gathered at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative, seemed to suggest market bets for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts might be overdone.
Asked if they think there will be two more rate cuts this year, not a single executive in a panel that included the heads of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Plc, Carlyle Group Inc., Apollo Global Management Inc. and State Street Corp., raised their hands.
A majority agreed there might be one more reduction by the end of 2024.