Stock futures muted
U.S. stock markets were set for a flat open on Wednesday as market participants paused after the S&P 500 notched another record yesterday, despite concerns over the Covid-19 surge fueled by the delta variant.
The rise in coronavirus infections has reportedly forced Chinese authorities to cancel flights, call off cultural events, and shut down tourist sites, as the outbreak spread to nearly half of the country’s 32 provinces within a span of two weeks.
By 5:30 a.m. ET, futures for the blue-chip Dow were down 42 points, or 0.12% to 34,956. S&P 500 futures dropped 4.50 points, or 0.1% to 4,410.50 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were flat.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 jumped 0.82% to finish the session at a record 4,423.
Lyft turns profitable earlier than anticipated
On the earnings front, shares of (NASDAQ: LYFT) posted slight gains before the opening bell after the company reported an adjusted quarterly profit three months earlier than expected, as it trimmed costs while ride numbers rebounded in the second quarter.
The ride-hailing firm posted a second-quarter EBITDA profit of $23.8 million. On an adjusted basis, the company made a loss of $18 million, or 5 cents per share.
Lyft had revenue of $765 million in the quarter, well above the $339.3 million it had during the same quarter a year ago.
Analysts had called for an adjusted loss of 24 cents per share on revenue of $696 million.
Lyft said active riders hit 17.1 million, up 27% from the March quarter, and up 97% from the second quarter of last year.
At the time of writing, Lyft stock was indicated 56 cents or 1.01% to $55.94 per share in the premarket trading session.
Uber, GM, CVS to report today
Meanwhile, Lyft’s rival Uber (NYSE: UBER) is scheduled to release its second-quarter financial results after the closing bell today.
Analysts expect the ride-hailing giant to report a loss of 51 cents per share and revenue of $3.74 billion.
Other major earnings to watch today include General Motors (NYSE:GM), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), Lemonade (NYSE: LMND), and CVS Health (NYSE: CVS).
