Boeing, Tesla, Microsoft earnings on tap
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Wednesday, ahead of one of the busiest days of the earnings season.
Some of the bellwethers expected to publish quarterly earnings before the bell include Boeing (NYSE: BA), Blackstone (NYSE: BX), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), and Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX).
After the closing bell, investors will receive reports from Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Ford (NYSE: F), Paypal (NASDAQ: PYPL), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), and O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY).
By 5:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were down 20 points or 0.07% to 26,743. The S&P 500 futures futures declined 1.62 points, or 0.05% to 2,992.88 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 2.87 points, or 0.04% to 7,855.88.
SoftBank ups it stake in WeWork to 80%
Softbank has raised its stake in WeWork to roughly 80% by agreeing to provide $5 billion in new financing and launching of a tender offer of up to $3 billion for existing shareholders.
The Japanese tech conglomerate will also accelerate an existing commitment to fund $1.5 billion, the companies disclosed in a statement.
The deal, which values WeWork at just $8 billion, is likely to see co-founder Adam Neumann receive nearly $1.7 billion as he severs ties with the office-sharing startup. Neumann was forced to resign as chief executive after investors questioned his leadership style.
After closing the $1.5 billion payment commitment, WeWork’s board will appoint SoftBank’s chief operating officer Marcelo Claure to the position of executive chairman.
Boeing fires head of commercial airplanes unit
Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced on Tuesday that Kevin McAllister, the head of its commercial airlines unit, will part ways with the company as the 737 Max crisis continues to grow.
McAllister, who joined the aerospace giant just three years ago, will be succeeded by Stan Deal effective immediately. Deal has been serving as president and CEO of Boeing’s Global Services unit.
McAllister’s departure comes just days after the revelation of instant messages between two Boeing employees in 2016. The messages suggest the company may have been aware of major issues with an automated feature known as MCAS on the 737 Max planes, which authorities have linked to the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the Lion Air crash.
