Nasdaq futures jumped on Thursday as Meta Platforms surged after announcing rigorous cost controls, while a dovish message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell boosted bets of a softer landing for the U.S. economy.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 151 points, or 0.44%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 15 points, or 0.36%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 161.25 points, or 1.3%.
Pre-Market Movers
Meta— Shares of the Facebook parent surged 19% in early morning trading after the company posted better-than-expected revenue and announced a $40 billion stock buyback when it reported its quarterly results Wednesday evening. Bank of America upgraded Meta Thursday, saying the company's new efficiency mentality positions stock for more than 40% upside. The spike in shares helped pull other mega cap tech companies Amazon and Alphabet up by 4% each.
Align Technology — The orthodontics company saw its shares rise 14% after its quarterly earnings and revenue beat analyst expectations. Align also said it will repurchase up to $1 billion of its common stock over the next three years.
FedEx— The shipping giant rose more than 3% after both Citi and Bank of America upgraded the stock. Citi said it sees "increasing signs of cost control following its missteps in 2022." On Wednesday, the company announced it will lay off 10% of its officers and directors amid cooling demand.
Merck— Shares of the pharmaceutical giant dipped more than 1% despite Merck beating estimates on the top and bottom lines for the previous quarter. The company reported $1.62 in adjusted earnings per share on $13.83 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had penciled in $1.54 per share on $13.67 billion of revenue. Merck did project sales and adjusted earnings to decline in 2023.
Honeywell— Shares of the industrial company fell more than 5% in premarket trading after Honeywell’s revenue for the fourth quarter came in short of expectations. The company generated $9.19 billion of revenue, while analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were looking for $9.25 billion. The safety and productivity solutions segment saw sales decline 5% year over year. Honeywell’s adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.52, 1 cent above estimates.
Tesla— The EV maker saw a 2.3% boost in its shares following a Reutersreportthat the company will raise output at its Shanghai factory to almost 20,000 vehicles per week for February and March. This would be in response to higher demand after the company cut prices.
Qorvo— The semiconductor company tumbled approximately 3% following its disappointing earnings report. Qorvo reported a fiscal third quarter loss of $15.9 million and earnings of 16 cents per share. Analysts polled by StreetAccount had anticipated per-share earnings of 62 cents on revenue of $725.9 million.
Corteva— Shares of the agricultural chemical company dipped 1.8% following a mixed earnings report. Corteva topped operating earnings expectations for the most recent quarter, according to StreetAccount, but fell short of revenue estimates. Guidance for operating earnings and revenue was weaker than expected.
Market News
Biden's Plan to Curb Credit-Card Late Fees Could Undercut Apple, Google App Stores
President Joe Biden's push to curb credit-card late feesmeans consumers could expect lower prices charged by Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google on their mobile app stores, and more competition on digital platforms.
As part of Biden's plan to eliminate "junk fees" associated with consumer services for concert tickets, mobile plans and air travel, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to propose a rule to take effect in 2024 that would to cap late payment credit-card fees at $8, from an average now of about $31 -- saving consumers about $9 billion a year in fees.
Microsoft Rolls Out ChatGPT-Powered Teams Premium
Microsoft Corp on Wednesday rolled out a premium Teams messaging offering powered by ChatGPT to simplify meetings using the AI chatbot that has taken Silicon Valley by a storm.
The premium service will cost $7 per month in June before increasing to $10 in July, Microsoft said.
Berkshire Hathaway Sells $44.9 Mln of Shares in China's BYD
Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company owned by Warren Buffett, has sold 1.55 million Hong Kong-listed shares of electric vehicle maker BYD for HK$351.81 million ($44.85 million), a stock exchange filing showed.
The sale lowered Berkshire's holdings in BYD's issued H-shares to 12.9% on Jan. 27, down from 13.04%, the filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed on Thursday.
Bed Bath & Beyond Says It Missed Interest Payments on Bonds
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., the financially strapped home-goods retailer, missed interest payments on its bonds, a week after receiving a default notice from lenders.
The retailer failed to make Feb. 1 payments on notes that total more than $1 billion, a spokeswoman said Tuesday in an emailed statement.
The default means Bed Bath & Beyond has entered a 30-day grace period, during which time it can still make the interest payments. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on the missed payments.
Oil Giant Shell Makes Record $40 Billion Annual Profit
Shell delivered a record $40 billion profit in 2022, it said on Thursday, capping a tumultuous year in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine allowed the energy giant to hand shareholders unprecedented returns.
The British company also posted record fourth-quarter profit of $9.8 billion on the back of a strong recovery in earnings from its liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading, beating analyst forecasts for an $8 billion profit.
Sony Lifts Outlook Closer to Record Level, Raises PS5 Sales Target
Japan's Sony Group Corp on Thursday edged up its annual profit forecast, helped by a strong showing for its videogame division, and raised PlayStation 5 game console sales target by one million units to 19 million for the business year to March.
The company said it now expects operating profit for the year to March 31 to total 1.18 trillion yen ($9.17 billion), up 1.7 per cent from its previous forecast of 1.16 trillion yen.
Shale Oil Producer ConocoPhillips Posts Higher Fourth-Quarter Profit
ConocoPhillips reported a jump in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as the U.S. shale producer benefited from higher prices for its crude oil on tight supplies and robust demand.
Total average realized price was $71.05 per barrel of oil equivalent, ConocoPhillips said, 8% higher from a year earlier.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Reports Revenue of $11.4B Beats By $200M
Bristol-Myers Squibb reported quarterly earnings of $1.82 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.72 by 5.81 percent. The company reported quarterly sales of $11.41 billion which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $11.20 billion by 1.84 percent.