US markets spectacularly ended their winning start to February on Thursday as investors balked at poor results from a social media behemoth.
However, futures indicate that the close of the week might be a little more positive, though investors may be cautious in the face of newly released January jobs data from the US Labor Department.
Earnings news is continuing to dominate on Friday, with the major story being the resurgence of social media companies that had fallen alongside Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB), the company formerly known as Facebook, after its disastrous update on Thursday.
This rather suggests that Facebook’s problems are just that: Facebook’s problems.
Elsewhere, oil, gold and Bitcoin (BTC) were all higher.
| NASDAQ | S&P 500 | Bitcoin |
|---|---|---|
| 13,878.82 (-3.74%) | 4,477.44 (-2.44%) | 37,968.91 (+4.07%) |
Here are today’s trending stocks:
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares were also up by double digits ahead of the market open as the online retail giant recorded surging profits and announced a price hike for its prime subscription service.
Snap (NYSE: SNAP), parent company of the Snapchat app, saw its shares rocket by over 40% in premarket trading after it recorded its first ever quarterly profit.
Pinterest (NYSE: PINS), which fell on Thursday alongside other social media sites after Facebook’s disappointing results, enjoyed a strong resurgence after it too beat expectations with its fourth quarter earnings.
Meta (NASDAQ: FB) shares are showing no immediate signs of recovery after dropping by over 26%, with this constituting a market value slump of more than $230bn.
Ford (NYSE: F) is in the red even as it indicated that 2022 would bring strong revenue and profit growth, with investors hung up on the fact that the carmaker’s fourth quarter earnings missed expectations.
Unity Software (NYSE: U) also saw strong premarket moves due to earnings, with the videogame engine developer seeing share prices rise by more than 10% ahead of the market open as revenue topped forecasts.
In yet more earnings news, Clorox Co (NYSE: CLX) has found itself down in the dumps after reporting declining sales and margins in its latest update.
Standard Lithium (NYSEAMERICAN: SLI) shares tanked on Thursday as a short seller alleged that the company’s technology would not work for its intended purpose. SLI shares are showing signs of recovery already and the company released a statement disputing the claims.
Bill.com Holdings (NYSE: BILL) shares have soared by around 25% ahead of the market open, with the financial software firm having trounced revenue expectations with its fourth quarter earnings.
More earnings are due to be released on Friday, including those of Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) and Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL).
Some of the other major premarket movers included:
Generac Holdings (NYSE: GNRC) +7%
Vroom Inc (NASDAQ: VRM) +7%
Paylocity Holding (NASDAQ: PCTY) +6%
Ubiquiti (NYSE: UI) -5%
Zendesk (NYSE: ZEN) -5%
Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ: NXST) -5%