Stocks set to open higher
U.S. stock markets are set to open higher on Wednesday as traders weigh strong earnings from International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM). Traders are also eyeing several earnings releases today, including from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT).
By 4:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures gained 65.5 points, or 0.22% to 29,244.5. The S&P 500 futures advanced 10.62 points, or 0.32% to 3,330.12 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 48.50 points, or 0.53% to 9,218.25.
On Tuesday, IBM said its fourth-quarter revenues stood at $21.8 billion, up 0.1% from $21.76 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company attributed the sales increase to its cloud segments and cognitive solutions.
Adjusted earnings came in at $4.71 per share, well ahead of analysts’ forecast for adjusted earnings of $4.69 per share. IBM shares were up 3.83% in pre-market trading hours to $144.50 apiece.
Netflix added 8.8 million new subscribers in Q4 2019
Meanwhile, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) revealed late Tuesday that its paid subscriber base grew by 8.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, surpassing its own expectation of 7.6 million additions.
The streaming service now has 60.4 million paid subscribers in the United States, and more than 100 million in its overseas markets.
Netflix posted revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared with $4.2 billion a year ago. Earnings came in at $1.30 per share, topping Wall Street estimates of $0.53 per share.
At the time of writing, Netflix shares were up $7.12, or 2.11% to $345.23 each in pre-market trade.
Trump says the U.S. has the coronavirus outbreak “totally under control”
In other news, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. is prepared to deal with deadly coronavirus, which has killed at least nine people in China and sickened more than 400 others.
Trump’s comments came hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the first case of the virus in the United States. The CDC announced on Tuesday that a man in his 30s in Snohomish County, Washington, returning from China on January 15 had contracted the virus.
Speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of the of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump said: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control.”
