Stocks set to rise at open after Federal Reserve rate cut
U.S. stock index futures were higher on Thursday morning, hours after Federal Reserve policy makers voted to trim interest rates by 25 basis points but failed to signal that more monetary stimulus is coming.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday’s 25 basis cut was a “mid-cycle adjustment” and added that “it’s not the beginning of a long series of cuts.”
At around 5:18 a.m. ET, futures on the blue-chip Dow rose 50.5 points, or 0.19% to 26,905.5. Futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed 18.13 points, or 0.23% to 7,884.88 while those on the broader S&P 500 were up 4.63 points, or 0.16% to 2,986.88.
Qualcomm revenue and guidance disappoint due to Huawei ban, stock falls 6%
Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) on Wednesday reported downbeat sales for its fiscal third quarter and provided a disappointing outlook for the current quarter. The chipmaker posted revenue of $4.89 billion, missing the Refinitiv consensus estimate of $5.08 billion.
Management said revenue was weighed down by slower demand for 4G devices, as well as the ban on U.S. companies doing business with Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
Qualcomm views adjusted earnings of between $0.65 to $0.75 per share on revenues of $4.3 billion to $5.1 billion in its fiscal third quarter. Analysts had had forecast adjusted earnings of $1.08 per share revenue of $5.63 billion in the quarter.
Shares of the chipmaker slumped 6.77% to $68.21 in the premarket trading session Thursday.
Orthodontics startup SmileDirectClub reportedly eyeing $1 billion September IPO
SmileDirectClub plans to sell about $1 billion in stock through an initial public offering (IPO), according to a CNBC report on Wednesday, which cited three people with knowledge of the matter.
Founded in 2014 by Jordan Katzman and Alex Fenkell, the company helps people straighten and brighten their teeth. SmileDirectClub ships invisible teeth-straightening devices directly to customers, and licensed dental professionals remotely monitor the patients’ progress.
The most recent round of private funding valued the company at $3.2 billion. According to CNBC, SmileDirectClub is “currently on file confidentially and aiming to flip its IPO prospectus to be public sometime next month, with a debut targeted for September.”
General Motors, Pinterest, Shopify earnings on deck
Earnings remain in focus, with a slew of companies set to report today. General Motors (NYSE: GM), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), and Cigna Corp (NYSE: CI) are all scheduled to publish their reports before the opening bell.
Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), Pinterest (NYSE: PINS), Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY), Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN), and Square (NYSE: SQ) will report after the market closes.
