Earnings season remains in full swing, sending stocks higher before the bell
Following yesterday's choppy session that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) snap a three-day win streak, stock futures are indicating a firmly higher move before the bell. The Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) is enjoying a particularly healthy pre-market gain, after Netflix (NFLX) posted impressive subscriber numbers for its latest quarter. Futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) are modestly higher as well, as investors await to digest U.S. manufacturing data and a fresh slew of big-name earnings reports.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- How the SPX typically performs after record highs, per Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
- Don't bet on a bounce from Bristol-Meyers stock.
- Plus, more on NFLX; ABT cools off after earnings; and eBay trims its workforce.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.1 million call contracts and 674,398 put contracts traded on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.57, and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.71.
- Streaming stock Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) is enjoying an impressive 9.9% surge before the bell, as investors celebrate the company's fourth-quarter subscriber growth of over 13 million for the fourth quarter. NFLX is slated to open at $541.00 -- its highest mark since October 2021, adding to its already impressive 52% nine-month gain. Several analysts have already chimed in with price-target cuts in response, the highest coming from Wells Fargo to $650 from $460.
- Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) reported an adjusted fourth-quarter earnings that were in-line with analyst estimates at $1.19. Revenue was slightly above estimates, as sales crossed the threshold of $4.4 billion. Despite this, ABT is down 2.3% in pre-market trading, set to trade at $111.40, set to make a dent in its nearly 4% 2024 gain.
- Online e-tail stock eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) is up 3.4% at $43.04 ahead of the open, after revealing plans to join the layoff barrage with a 9% cut expected in its workforce. The CEO claimed the headcount and expenses going out do not equate to the company's income and growth. Year-over-year, eBay stock is down 13.1%.
- Plenty of blue-chip earnings reports this week.
Tech Stocks Send Hang Seng Higher
Asian markets were led by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng’s 3.6% pop that was fueled by rallying tech stocks. China’s Shanghai Composite followed behind with a 1.8% gain, after the People’s Bank of China announced plans to cut the reserve ratio requirements for banks by 50 basis points from Feb. 5. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.8% despite business activity that expanded at its fastest pace since and exports that experienced a 9.8% year-over-year growth in December. Rounding out the region, Sout Korea’s Kospi fell 0.4%.
European stocks are higher this afternoon, after a preliminary purchasing manager's index (PMI) reading indicated progressing activity in the euro zone in January. In addition, PMI figures in the U.K. hit a seven-month high in January, helping London’s FTSE to a 0.3% lead. Elsewhere, France’s CAC 40 is up 0.9%, while tech stocks are powering Germany’s DAX to a 1.4% gain.