Powell, Mnuchin testimony eyed
U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed start for Wall Street on Tuesday as traders awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to appear before the House Financial Services Committee.
By 5:30 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures dropped 103 points, or 0.4% to 25,394. S&P 500 fell 9.13 points, or 0.3% to 3,038.62 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed.
According to prepared remarks which were released by the Federal Reserve yesterday, Powell will tell lawmakers that the “path forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend in large part on our success in containing the virus.”
The Fed chief will also state that “a full recovery is unlikely until people are confident that it is safe to re-engage in a broad range of activities.”
Lululemon shares surge after announcing acquisition of Mirror
Lululemon (NASDAQ: LULU) shares rose in Tuesday’s pre-market session after the company announced it would buy exercise hardware startup Mirror for $500 million.
The startup, which was founded by Brynn Putnam in 2018, sells a wall-mounted, internet-connected mirror for around $1,500 that subscribers use in an interactive fitness regime.
According to a press release published on Monday, Mirror will operate as a standalone unit with Putnam continuing to serve as CEO. Lululemon will fund the transaction through a combination of existing credit lines and cash on hand.
Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald said the company hopes to work with Mirror to “accelerate the growth of personalized in-home fitness.” The companies expect to close the deal in the second quarter of fiscal 2020.
At the time of writing, Lululemon stock was up $11.40, or 3.87% to $305.75 a share.
Uber said to be in talks to buy Postmates
Uber (NYSE: UBER) shares were also rising in early trade on Tuesday after The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported the company had made an offer to buy Postmates.
The NYT said Monday, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that Uber had made a takeover offer for Postmates and that talks were continuing. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal could value the upstart delivery service at $2.6 billion.
Shares in Uber jumped 3.04% to $29.63 apiece in pre-market trade Tuesday.
Micron rallies on better-than-expected earnings
On the earnings front, Micron (NASDAQ: MU) reported upbeat third-quarter results and provided a strong outlook for the current quarter.
The chipmaker posted adjusted earnings of $0.82 a share on revenue of $5.44 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected adjusted earnings of $0.77 a share on revenue of $5.31 billion.
Micron said it expects Q4 revenue of $5.75 billion to $6.25 billion and adjusted earnings of $0.95 to $1.15 a share. Analysts forecast adjusted earnings of $0.71 and $0.79 a share on revenue of $5.46 billion.
Micron shares climbed 4.79% to $51.50 each in pre-market trading session on Tuesday.
