Pre-Market Stock Moves: Key Highlights
Several companies made notable movements in pre-market trading. Micron Technology saw its shares drop nearly 6%, despite reporting impressive quarterly results. Their adjusted earnings reached $12.20 per share, substantially surpassing the consensus estimate of $9.31. Sales also exceeded expectations at $23.86 billion, compared to the anticipated $20.07 billion. However, investors appeared concerned about comments regarding increased spending aimed at expanding production. Interestingly, Micron’s stock has surged more than 350% over the past year.
In the wake of Micron’s results, other memory companies suffered similar declines. Seagate Technology’s shares fell nearly 3%, with Western Digital and SanDisk also down by about 3% and 6%, respectively.
Shares of Alibaba, meanwhile, dropped 5% in pre-market trading, following weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results. The e-commerce giant’s revenue totaled 284.8 billion yuan, which was below the estimate of 290.7 billion yuan from LSEG. Their net profit saw a significant decline of 66%, falling to 15.6 billion yuan.
On a brighter note, Align Technology, the producer of Invisalign products, saw its shares increase by 7%. This uptick was attributed to Elliott Investment Management acquiring a substantial stake in the company, with reports indicating that the activist firm aims to enhance the stock price.
Five Below also experienced a rise in their stocks, which went up by 6% after exceeding Wall Street expectations in their quarterly results and first-quarter outlook. They reported adjusted earnings of $4.31 per share on a revenue of $1.73 billion, surpassing analyst estimates for EPS and revenue. However, guidance for first-quarter adjusted EPS indicates potential underperformance compared to consensus estimates.
Mining stocks, however, faced setbacks as silver and gold prices declined. Companies like Newmont, First Majestic Silver, Kinross Gold, and Cool Mining all saw declines around 9%, while AngloGold Ashanti plummeted by 12%.
Similarly, copper miners experienced a drop in stock prices as copper futures fell. Southern Copper and Freeport-McMoRan both experienced a 5% decline, with Rio Tinto down 6% and BHP Group down 4%.
On a positive note for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, shares rose due to increasing crude oil prices. NextDecade increased by nearly 2%, Venture Global rose approximately 8%, and Cheniere Energy also saw a rise of nearly 2%.
In a disappointing turn, Red Cat, the drone stock, fell nearly 4% after posting underwhelming fourth-quarter results, showing a loss of 17 cents a share, which was above analysts’ expectations.
Conversely, DLocal, a fintech payments company based in Uruguay, enjoyed a 10% increase in U.S.-listed shares after achieving a new quarterly revenue high. They reported $337.9 million in revenue, surpassing the consensus estimate of $296.3 million. Their earnings per share aligned with expectations at 18 cents.
Fertilizer stocks also saw positive movement in response to reports that China is restricting fertilizer imports. CF Industries rose 3%, Mosaic increased by almost a percentage point, and Intrepid Potash saw a rise of 2%.
