Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 19, 2024.
S&P 500 futures rose on Tuesday night, as traders prepared for additional reports from major tech companies and looked ahead to a key reading on the economy's growth.
Futures tied to the broad market index added 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.3%. Dow futures gained 64 points, or 0.1%.
Alphabet kicked off a major week for megacap tech earnings. The Google parent exceeded analysts' expectations as the company saw strong quarterly revenue growth from its cloud business. Shares surged 5% in extended trading.
Chipmaker AMD slid 8% in after-hours action, as its fourth-quarter revenue guidance failed to impress investors.
Tech titans Meta Platforms and Microsoft are set to report on Wednesday, while Apple and Amazon are due Thursday.
On the economic front, investors are anticipating the first preliminary reading of the gross domestic product out on Wednesday. The report is expected to show that GDP grew at a 3.1% annualized pace in the third quarter, according to the Dow Jones consensus forecast. That would be just 0.1 percentage point above the previous period if accurate, and would be the 10th straight quarter of expansion. It's also expected to show inflation moving closer to or coming out below the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target.
In anticipation of the Big Tech earnings releases, investors drove the Nasdaq Composite to a fresh record during Tuesday's trading session. The Nasdaq advanced 0.78%, while the S&P 500 added 0.16%. The 30-stock Dow underperformed, shedding 0.36%.
Money Report
"Growth-oriented stocks, like the NASDAQ 100, returned to leadership," on Tuesday, Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management, said. "We are closely monitoring tech earnings releases to ensure businesses investment in artificial intelligence and other productivity enhancing tools remains robust to support strong future earnings growth."
Haworth added that he is closely watching the quarterly GDP report to understand the health of the consumer, which appears resilient.
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Chewy shares slide after Keith Gill announces sale
Chewy shares slipped nearly 2% in extended trading on Tuesday after Keith Gill — the man known online as meme stock leader Roaring Kitty — dissolved his passive stake in the pet-focused ecommerce retailer.
Gill said in a regulatory filling that he zeroed out his position. The trader, who's credited with helping drive 2021's iconic short squeeze, had a 6.6% holding in the company as of a July 1 filling.
Meme stock enthusiasts have followed Gill's moves since his return to the internet earlier this year. Before his reappearance, Gill had not been seen online for about three years.
Chewy shares have climbed about 13% in 2024, putting the stock on track for its first positive year since 2020.
— Alex Harring
Alphabet, Chipotle, Visa among stocks making biggest moves after close
Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading:
- Chipotle Mexican Grill — The burrito chain reported mixed quarterly results and shares dipped 3%. Chipotle reported adjusted earnings of 27 cents per share, exceeding expectations of 25 cents a share from analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue came out at $2.79 billion for the period, just shy of analysts' forecast of $2.82 billion. The company's same-store sales rose 6% for the quarterly period, also falling short of estimates.
- Alphabet — Shares of the Google parent added 4% after the company exceeded Wall Street's top- and bottom-line estimates. Alphabet posted earnings of $2.12 per share on revenue of $88.27 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG expected earnings of $1.85 per share on $86.30 billion in revenue. The megacap tech titan saw its revenue grow 15% year over year, stronger than the same quarter last year, as Google Cloud revenue beat expectations.
- Visa — The global payments company beat earnings and revenue expectations for the fiscal fourth quarter, driving shares up about 1.5%. Visa posted adjusted earnings of $2.71 per share on revenue of $9.62 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected earnings of $2.58 per share on revenue of $9.49 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend by 13% to 59 cents.
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
Stock futures open higher
U.S. stock futures rose shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures added nearly 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.1%.
— Pia Singh
