Stock futures were falling Wednesday as investors awaited quarterly earnings from major U.S. banks, a batch of economic data, and a potential Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump's tariffs.
These stocks were poised to make moves:
Bank of America fell 0.2%, Citigroup ticked fell 0.1%, and Wells Fargo slid 0.3% ahead of the opening bell. The three banks are scheduled to report their fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday, and the results will be in focus for investors seeing as rival JPMorgan Chase's 7% drop in profit dragged down the broader market on Tuesday.
Netflix rose 1.1% in the premarket session. The video streamer is considering making its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming and studios assets all-cash, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Netflix is trying to get the deal done quickly as rival Paramount Skydance carries on pushing its competing bid. Netflix declined to comment on the possible revised offer. Warner Bros. Discovery fell 0.4%.
Nvidia slipped 0.9%. The chip maker got approval from U.S. authorities to ship its H200 artificial-intelligence chips to China, but it still faces an anxious wait to see if Beijing will allow sales to go ahead. Chinese companies would be willing to buy around 1.5 million of the H200 chips, representing roughly $30 billion in revenue, according to KeyBanc analyst John Vinh.
Fortinet dropped 2.5% and Palo Alto Networks fell 2.8%, making them among the S&P 500's two biggest losers ahead of the opening bell. Chinese authorities have told local companies to stop using cybersecurity software made by a dozen U.S. and Israeli companies, Reuters reported, citing two people briefed on the matter. Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks didn't respond to requests for comment from Barron's.
Intel was the biggest gainer, climbing 1.9%. The chip maker has benefited from the AI rally lately and it caught an upgrade from KeyBanc's Vinh on Monday, who cited strong demand from cloud service providers.
Rivian dropped 3.6% after UBS downgraded the electric-vehicle maker to Sell from Neutral even as it raised its price target to $15 from $13. Analysts said that the market's appetite for Rivian's AI efforts may have peaked, following a 15% rally for the stock since Dec. 11.