U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday after retail behemoth Walmart's strong annual forecast eased worries about a slowdown in consumer spending amid optimism over a potential deal to avoid a catastrophic debt default.
Market Snapshot
At 7:55 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 18 points, or 0.05%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 8.75 points, or 0.21%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 35.5 points, or 0.26%.
Pre-Market Movers
Alibaba (BABA) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd posted a 2% rise in quarterly revenue that missed expectations and said its board has approved a spinoff of its cloud-computing business. Finance chief Toby Xu also said Alibaba's board has approved the process to start external financing for Alibaba International Digital Commerce Business Group and initial public offering (IPO) explorations for Cainiao Smart Logistics Group and the execution of the IPO for Freshippo. Alibaba shares waved in premarket trading.
Grab (GRAB) - Grab Holdings Ltd beat first-quarter revenue estimates on Thursday, driven by growth in its core rideshare and food-delivery businesses. Revenue more than doubled to $525 million in the quarter ended March, inching past analysts' estimate of $504.3 million, according to Visible Alpha. U.S.-listed shares of the Singapore-based company were down 2% in volatile trading before the opening bell.
Walmart (WMT) - Shares of Walmart Inc rose 1.8% in premarket trading after the retailer raised its annual sales and profit targets, befitting from inflation-wary consumers trading down to cheaper groceries.
U.S. regional banks (PacWest, Western Alliance) - Shares of U.S. regional lenders extended gains, led by a 6.8% rise in PacWest Bancorp (PACW) as markets bet on the worst of the bank rout being over. Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL) and Zions Bancorporation NA (ZION) added 3.7% and 1.8% respectively.
Micron (MU) - Chipmaker Micron Technology Inc's shares gained 2% as it plans to invest up to 500 billion yen ($3.70 billion) in Japan for new chips over the next few years.
Take-Two (TTWO) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc jumped 12.2% as it beat analyst estimates for quarterly adjusted sales on strong demand from legacy titles "NBA 2K" and "Grand Theft Auto".
Cisco Systems (CSCO) -Shares of Cisco Systems lost 4.2% after the company reported a 23% decline in orders for the fiscal third quarter.
Sony (SONY) - The stock added 4.5% after the company announced it will begin assessing a partial spin-off of its financial services business. Sony would list shares of Sony Financial Group in about two to three years and still own about 20% of the business.
Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI) - Bath & Body Works gained 9.8% after the beauty and skincare firm raised its annual profit forecast.
Market News
Alibaba Misses Revenue Estimates, Approves Cloud Unit Spinoff
China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, posted a 2% rise in quarterly revenue that missed expectations and said its board has approved a spinoff of its cloud-computing business.
The company logged revenue of 208.20 billion yuan ($30.12 billion) for the three months ended in March, compared with a Refinitiv consensus estimate of 210.3 billion yuan drawn from 26 analysts.
Finance chief Toby Xu also said Alibaba's board has approved the process to start external financing for Alibaba International Digital Commerce Business Group and initial public offering (IPO) explorations for Cainiao Smart Logistics Group and the execution of the IPO for Freshippo.
