U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Monday after last week's scorching AI-driven rally as investors once again shifted their focus to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path and awaited economic reports including key inflation data this week.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 40 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 5.25 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 12.75 points, or 0.07%.
Pre-Market Movers
Nvidia (NVDA) - Nvidia stock was rising about 1% in premarket trading Monday as its valuation hovers near the $2 trillion mark. The chip maker is pushing to expand artificial-intelligence technology in more industries, including telecommunications.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) - Berkshire Hathaway‘s fourth-quarter operating earnings after taxes rose 28% to $8.5 billion in the fourth quarter on strength in the company’s large insurance business and higher investment income. The conglomerate’s cash on hand rose to a record $167.7 billion at the end of the fourth quarter from $157 billion on Sept. 30. Berkshire’s class B shares were rising 2%.
Li Auto (LI) - American depositary receipts of Li Auto were rising 9% after the Chinese electric-vehicle maker posted fourth-quarter revenue that more than doubled to $5.8 billion and the company reported its first annual net profit.
Micron (MU) - Micron Technology Monday said that it has begun volume production of its HBM3E (High Bandwidth Memory 3E) solution. The shares gained about 4% in premarket trading.
Alcoa (AA) - Alcoa has reached a deal to acquire Australia’s Alumina that values the company at about $2.2 billion. The companies operate the Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals joint venture, which operates or has interests in bauxite mines and alumina refineries in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Guinea. Alumina’s board has recommended that shareholders accept the all-stock deal. Alcoa declined 4% in premarket trading.
Intuitive Machines (LUNR) - Shares of Intuitive Machines were dropping 28% after the company’s Odysseus lunar lander tipped over when it landed on the moon’s surface. Some of the lander’s antennas weren’t pointing toward Earth, hampering its communications. But the company told Barron’s that its science payloads were intact and operational. The shares had gained 15.8% on Friday on the back of Odysseus’ landing.
Moderna (MRNA) - Shares of Moderna slipped 1.6% as HSBC downgraded the U.S. vaccine maker to "reduce" from "hold."
Salesforce (CRM) - Jefferies upped the Salesforce price target by $25 to $350, implying roughly 19.5% upside for the company, which will report fiscal fourth-quarter results on Wednesday. Salesforce climbed 1.4% in premarket trading.
Playtika (PLTK) - Playtika Holding reported quarterly earnings of $0.10 per share which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $0.17 by 41.18 percent. This is a 58.33 percent decrease over earnings of $0.24 per share from the same period last year. The shares dropped 2.6% in premarket trading.
Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) - Domino’s Pizza jumped 7% after the pizza chain reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, raised its dividend, and said its board authorized additional stock repurchases of up to $1 billion.
Broadcom (AVGO) - Broadcom is nearing a $3.8 billion deal to sell its business end-user computing unit, which allows users to access desktops and applications from any device, to private-equity firm KKR, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal could be announced as early as Monday, sources told Reuters. Broadcom shares rose 0.7%.
Amazon (AMZN), Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) - Before the start of trading Monday, Amazon.com will replace Walgreens Boots Alliance as one of the 30 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Amazon rose 0.2% in premarket trading, while Walgreens traded flat.
Freshpet (FRPT) - Freshpet Inc.’s stock was up by 13% in premarket trading on Monday after the pet-food company’s fourth-quarter revenue and profit topped analyst estimates.
Market News
Berkshire's Operating Profits Rose 28% in Fourth Quarter. Cash Hit a Record $167 Billion
Berkshire Hathaway Q4 operating earnings rose 28% from a year ago, driven by improvements in insurance underwriting and investment income, which more than offset declines at its railroad, utilities and energy, and other businesses, the company disclosed on Saturday.
The company doubled the amount of its common stock it repurchased to $2.2B during the quarter compared with $1.1B in Q3, bringing 2023 purchases to $9.2B.
The investment titan held ~$167.6B in cash and short-term securities on its balance sheet as of Dec. 31, 2023, climbing from $157B at Sept. 30.
Q4 operating income of $8.48B declined from $10.8B in Q3 and increased from $6.63B a year ago. Insurance underwriting income more than quintupled, while its insurance investment income increased by 38%.
Japan's Nikkei Hits New High After Topping 1989 Peak
Japan's Nikkei 225 index hit a fresh high Monday as traders returned from a long weekend.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.3%, comfortably trading above its closing record of 39,098.68. The index breached its 1989 all-time high of 38,915.87 on Thursday.
Foreign cash has poured into Japanese stocks as investors take advantage of the cheap yen and corporate governance reforms that have boosted shareholder returns.
