TLDR
- Stock futures rose Wednesday as traders waited for Meta Platforms to report earnings after the bell.
- SpaceX shares jumped after a 161% rise in quarterly revenue and news of merger talks with Tesla.
- Netflix fell about 6% after weak revenue guidance and its slowest sales growth in three years.
- Intuitive Surgical dropped 7.6% after disclosing a $450 million antitrust matter.
- Capital One rose 3.3% after saying it will spend more on marketing.
U.S. stock futures rose early Wednesday as traders reviewed a new batch of earnings reports. Investors also prepared for Meta Platforms to report after the bell.
S&P 500 futures gained 0.11% and Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.44%. Dow futures slipped almost 0.1%, or 42 points.
In regular trading on Tuesday, the Dow Industrials advanced nearly 530 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite ended marginally lower.
Earnings Drive Big Moves in Single Stocks
SpaceX shares surged about 9% in premarket trading. The company said its revenue grew 161% in the third quarter.
The rocket and AI company beat analyst expectations for third-quarter earnings. Some early readings showed the stock up as much as 10%.
CEO Elon Musk said SpaceX and Tesla have formed committees to explore a possible merger. Tesla stock rose more than 2% in premarket trading. Tesla is due to report earnings after the close.
Netflix shares fell about 6% in premarket trading. The streamer beat Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings target but issued weak revenue guidance.
The company also reported its slowest sales growth in three years. The report did not ease concerns about slowing engagement.
Intuitive Surgical dropped 7.6% even though its third-quarter results topped analyst estimates. The surgical robot maker disclosed a $450 million antitrust matter. It also narrowed its outlook for procedure growth.
Capital One rose 3.3% after its earnings call. The credit card company said it will spend more on marketing as rivals step up their own efforts.
On Tuesday, 3M gained more than 5%. The industrial products company raised its full-year profit guidance.
Meta and the AI Trade in Focus
Meta shares slid 0.3% before the opening bell. The company is the first Big Tech hyperscaler to report this earnings season. Wall Street will watch its capital spending guidance because of heavy AI investment.
Earlier this month, Meta rolled out its latest AI model, Muse Wonder. It is only available to paying users.
Concerns about the AI trade have weighed on market sentiment lately. Traders are focused on debt-backed AI investments and whether infrastructure demand justifies the spending. On Tuesday, Seagate Technology added 2% and CoreWeave advanced more than 1%.
Christian Mueller-Glissmann of Goldman Sachs Research said earnings support, lighter positioning and lower valuations should help equities into year-end. He said near-term volatility could come from AI concerns, Middle East tensions and midterm elections.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 1.25% to $99.04 a barrel. In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi gained 3.29% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.85%. Europe’s Stoxx 600 rose 0.14%.
Meta reports after the close on Wednesday. IBM, Southwest Airlines, Lam Research, SAP and Texas Instruments are also due to report.
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