Futures are up, putting major indexes on track for weekly gains with large technology stocks driving the rally. Here’s what we’re watching ahead of Friday’s action.
- Why hello there, social-media stocks. Snap shares were leading the pack premarket, jumping 17% after the company’s revenue more than doubled in the second quarter and user growth jumped the most in four years. It seems that usage of the app is proving sticky even as people spend more time outside their homes.
- Other big social-media names were rising too. Twitter was up 4.9% premarket after it said it added 7 million more daily active users from the previous quarter and its revenue increased 74%. Sector giant Facebook was riding the coattails of its peers with a 2.9% premarket gain, and Pinterest added 4.3%.
- TAL Education Group shares, listed in New York, plunged 59% premarket on fears of a Chinese government crackdown on the for-profit education sector, and after-school tutoring in particular. An unverified document, circulating among investors and seen by The Wall Street Journal, appeared to be an official communication detailing new, tougher guidelines for the sector. Analysts at Jefferies say investors have grown more worried about the outlook for after-school tutoring for the 10th to 12th grades, and are concerned this tutoring may have to be done on a non-profit basis. New Oriental Education Group and 17 Education & Technology Group also plummeted, by 64% and 41% respectively.
- Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said he sees the global semiconductor shortage potentially stretching into 2023, adding a leading industry voice to the growing view that the chip-supply disruptions won’t wane soon. Intel’s shares slipped 2.8% premarket.
- Meme stock favorites were turning in a mixed performance. AMC Entertainment was up 1% ahead of the bell. GameStop edged up 0.9% and Koss slid 2.1%.
- Domino’s Pizza was down more than 0.9% premarket, giving back just a touch of Thursday’s 15% surge that came after its earnings that beat estimates and it disclosed a new share-repurchase program.
- Honeywell shares slipped 1.8% after the industrial giant beat expectations for the second quarter and lifted its guidance.
- American Express jumped 4.6% premarket after it reported higher second-quarter revenue and increased earnings as spending on travel and entertainment kept improving, and the company logged credit-reserve releases.
- Kimberly-Clark dropped 3.9% after the manufacturer cut its full year guidance due to higher input costs and lower sales volumes.
Chart of the Day
- The searing market for newly public companies has a new obsession: grills.
