Futures point to a slightly higher open
U.S. stocks are poised to open slightly higher on Tuesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 wrapped up their best August since the mid-1980s. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 9.6% in August, notching its best monthly returns since 2000.
As of 5:45 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 16 points to 28,432. The S&P 500 futures indicated a gain of 11.38 points, or 0.33% to 3,510.38 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 130.88 points, or 1.08% to 12,244.88.
Zoom shares rocket on strong earnings and guidance
Shares of Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ: ZM) surged in the pre-market trading session on Tuesday after the company reported upbeat second-quarter results and provided a strong outlook for the current quarter.
The video conferencing service said late Monday that it had adjusted earnings of $0.92 per share in the second quarter, well ahead of the $0.45 per share analysts expected. Revenue stood at $663.5 million, up 355% from the same period a year ago $663.5 million and above analysts’ forecast of $500.5 million.
Zoom expects to post adjusted earnings of $0.73 to $0.74 per share on revenue of $685 million to $690 million in the third quarter. On average, analysts polled by FactSet project Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.35 per share on revenue of $491.8 million.
At the time of writing, shares of the company were trading $89.74, or 27.60% higher to $414.84 pre-market.
ISM data in focus
The big focus today will be the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing survey for August at 10:00 a.m. ET, with data on construction spending for July also due. Analysts surveyed by Reuters see the ISM coming in at 54.4 from July’s 54.2.
Traders will also be watching the ISM Employment sub-index ahead of Friday’s jobs report. Analysts expect the Employment Index to rise to 45.8 in August from 44.3 in July.
