US stock futures fell again on Tuesday, extending the losses from Monday’s session as investors are still evaluating the first quarter earnings of blue-chip companies.
While the Dow and S&P futures fell by 0.4% each, Nasdaq futures dropped 0.3% at the time of writing.
A slew of of corporate earnings are set to be reported today before the opening bell. These include Abbott (ABT), AutoNation (AN), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Proctor & Gamble (PG), Philip Morris International (PM), Travelers (TRV) and Xerox Corp. (XRX) while Netflix (NFLX) is expected to report after the closing bell.
Sundial Growers (SNDL), a licensed cannabis producer was the most actively traded stock in pre-market trading as the company stands to benefit from the US House of Representatives’ vote in favour of legislation that seeks to allow banks to legally serve cannabis producers.
Akers Biosciences (AKER) was the biggest gainer in pre-market trading, up by 42.2% at the time of writing. There was no fundamental news explaining the gain in the stock price. However, the company was listed on the NASDAQ yesterday following last week’s approval by shareholders of the merger with AKER.
Caci International (CACI) was the biggest laggard dropping 17% in the pre-market despite being awarded a $376 million contract by the NGA.
Meanwhile, Nvidia’s (NVDA) proposed $40 billion acquisition of Cambridge-based Arm faces scrutiny from the UK Government. On Monday, the UK’s Secretary of State issued an intervention notice on behalf of the UK Government citing national security interests. The UK Government’s intervention notice stated, “Whereas the Secretary of State believes that it is or may be the case that a public interest consideration is relevant to a consideration of the relevant merger situation. Now, therefore, the Secretary of State in exercise of his powers under section 42(2) of the Act hereby gives this intervention notice.”
Amazon (AMZN) has become Europe’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, as the company has invested in nine new renewable energy projects spanning across Canada, the US, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Gregory Wetstone, President, and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) said, “Amazon continues to play a key role leading the corporate transition to renewable power worldwide and demonstrating that ambitious renewable targets are both achievable and widely beneficial.”
Coca-Cola (KO) announced its 1Q results on Monday beating Street estimates. The company reported a 5% year-on-year increase in net revenues of $9 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $8.6 billion and 1Q non-GAAP EPS of $0.55 that came in ahead of consensus estimates of $0.50.
Coca-Cola’s Chairman and CEO, James Quincey said, “We remain focused on emerging stronger and executing against our growth accelerators during the recovery phase. We are pleased with the progress we are making. We are encouraged by improvements in our business, especially in markets where vaccine availability is increasing and economies are opening up, and we remain confident in our full year guidance.”
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) announced a share buyback program of $2 billion and also hiked its quarterly dividend by $0.15 to $1.40 per share. The dividend is payable on June 15 to shareholders of record on May 21. Whirlpool Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Marc Bitzer said, “I am pleased to announce that we are increasing our dividend for the ninth consecutive year and have approved a significant expansion of our share repurchase program.”
Bitzer added, “These actions highlight the confidence we have in our business to continue generating strong levels of cash and reflect our continued commitment to creating shareholder value.”
Amgen’s (AMGN) investigational treatment bemarituzumab has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of gastric and gastroesophageal cancer based on results from the Phase 2 FIGHT trial.
Amgen Executive Vice president of Research and Development, David M. Reese, M.D., said, “The FIGHT trial is the first study to evaluate targeting the overexpression of FGFR2b in cancer. Bemarituzumab demonstrated clinically meaningful outcomes in key endpoints for patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal cancer as a frontline therapy.”
