Futures point to a positive open
U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as market participants awaited the release of a string of earnings reports and U.S. weekly jobless claims data.
As of 6:05 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures pointed to a gain of 130 points, or 0.48% to 27,014.
The S&P 500 futures were up 134 points, or 0.5% to 27,018 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 15.62 points, or 0.48% to 3,281.12.
Tesla posts 4th straight quarter of GAAP profits; stock surges higher
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares were rising 5.51% to $1,680.00 in pre-market trading on Thursday after the company posted strong second-quarter results on Tuesday, topping analyst consensus estimates for earnings and revenues, and marking its fourth profitable quarter.
The company reported second-quarter GAAP earnings of 50 cents per share. Adjusted earnings came in at $2.18 per share, well ahead of Refinitiv expectations of 3 cents per share. Revenue stood at $6.04 billion also above estimates of $5.37 billion.
The electric-car maker, which is on the verge of joining the S&P 500 index, also maintained its ambitious target of delivering 500,000 vehicles this year in spite of the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tesla shares are up nearly 275% this year.
Amazon and Intel earnings on watch
Corporate earnings will also be in focus today as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), AT&T (NYSE: T), Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), and American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL).
Analysts expect Twitter to report a loss of 1 cent per share on revenue of $704.46 million before the opening bell. AT&T is forecast to report earnings of 79 cents per share on revenue of $41.02 billion.
Southwest Airlines is projected to report a loss of $2.66 per share on revenue of $845.26 million, while American Airlines is seen reporting a loss of $7.56 per share on $1.44 billion revenue.
Analysts expect Amazon to report earnings of $1.63 per share on revenue of $80.61 billion after the closing bell. Intel will also announce its results after the close and is estimated to post earnings of $1.10 per share on revenue of $18.55 billion.
Weekly jobless claims data eyed
Traders will also be keeping a close eye on jobless claims for the week ending July 18, for clues on the health of the U.S. labor market amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Economists estimate between 1.25 million and 1.5 million Americans filed unemployment claims in the week, compared to the 1.3 million claims filed the week before.
Continuing claims are expected to come in at 17.067 million, down from the previous week’s figure of 17.338 million. The Labor Department will publish the data at 8:30 a.m. ET.
