Stocks set to open flat
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday as traders continued to weigh vaccine optimism against the current surge in coronavirus cases.
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow indicated a gain of 85.5 points, or 0.29% to 29,805.5. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 35.75 points, or 0.3% to 12,010.75 while the S&P 500 futures were little changed.
The U.S. continues to set record numbers, with nearly 76,830 people hospitalized countrywide, the largest figure since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the United Kingdom, the government has been advised to strengthen tier restrictions to avoid another surge in infections. Meanwhile, cases have surpassed 2 million in France.
Target, Nvidia to report earnings
Today, traders are awaiting quarterly results from chip-marker Target (NYSE: TGT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA).
Analysts expect Nvidia to report earnings of $2.57 per share on revenue of $4.41 billion after the market close. Target is seen reporting earnings of $1.60 per share on revenue of $20.93 billion ahead of the opening bell.
Other notable earnings to watch today include TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX), Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW), Sonos (NASDAQ: SONO), and Kingsoft Cloud (NASDAQ: KC).
TJX is estimated to come out with earnings of 40 cents per share on revenue of $9.38 billion. Lowe’s is projected to post earnings of $1.99 per share on revenue of $21.25 billion.
Kingsoft Cloud is seen reporting a loss of 16 cents per share on revenue of $260.62 million.
Boeing 737 Max jets given green light to fly again; shares rise
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared Boeing (NYSE: BA)’s 737 Max to take to the skies once again after grounding the jetliner for almost two years in the wake of two crashes that claimed 346 lives. The regulator announced the decision on its website early Wednesday.
Boeing has been working since last year on a fix for the jet’s automated flight software, a process that has been slowed down by software development, the coronavirus pandemic and lengthy crash and oversight probes.
Shares of the company were indicated $11.89, or 5.66% higher to $221.94 in pre-market hours.
Tesla upgraded to buy at Morgan Stanley after S&P 500 inclusion
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Adam Jonas has upgraded Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) from equal-weight to overweight for the first time in more than three years after the electric car maker was picked for inclusion into the S&P 500 Index. Jonas also lifted his price target for Tesla stock from $360 to $540 a share.
“To only value Tesla on car sales alone ignores the multiple businesses embedded within the company,” the analyst said in a note to clients. He added that Tesla is “on the verge of a profound model shift” from selling cars to generating high margin, recurring software and services revenue.
As of writing, Tesla shares were up $10.42, or 2.36% to $452.03 each in the pre-market trading session Wednesday.
