Thursday’s Pre-Market: Here’s What You Need to Know Before the Market Opens

U.S. stock futures were trending higher on Thursday, pointing to a strong start to the trading day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures was up 0.16% to 34,454.01, S&P500 Futures up 0.14% to 4,294.38 and Nasdaq Futures down 0.03% to 14,544.50.

The rally in the U.S. futures market comes on the heels of the European financial markets’ solid start to the second half of the year. Investors are awaiting the June employment data to confirm the outlook of the U.S. economy.

Before the market opens, the focus will be on Lindsay Corp (LNN), McCormick & Company Inc. (MKC), and Amira Nature Foods (ANFIF), which are expected to issue their quarterly reports. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) and Acuity Brands (AYI) are also set to report today, with Australis Capital Inc. (AUSAF) reporting after market close.

Alterity Therapeutics (ATHE) was the most active in pre-market, with about 3.77 million shares exchanging hands at the time of writing. The stock was up by approximately 78.45%. The company researches and develops therapeutic drugs for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative illnesses. Recently, it received positive guidance from the European Medicine Agency’s Committee on its Phase 2 trial for Multiple System Atrophy.

Staffing 360 (STAF) was the biggest gainer in pre-market, rallying 455.36% at the time of writing on 2.22k shares exchanging hands. The rally comes a day after the company announced plans to effect a reverse stock split of its common stock at a ratio of 1 post-split share for every 6 pre-split shares.

CureVac NV (CVAC) was one of the biggest losers, going down 14.26% in pre-market, at the time of writing, on about 40.35k shares exchanging hands.

The slide comes on reports that the company’s COVID-19 vaccine was 48% effective in the final analysis of its pivotal mass trial. This was a slight improvement from the 47% efficacy reported two weeks ago.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) shares jumped 11.3% after the omni-channel merchandise retailer delivered first-quarter financial results. Revenue and margins topped analysts’ estimates even as earnings fell short of expectations.

Adjusted earnings came in at $0.05 a share against $0.08 a share expected by the Street but an improvement from an adjusted net loss of $1.96 a share reported last year. Net sales were up 49% to $1.95 billion, above analyst’s expectations of $1.87 billion.

Mark Tritton, the company’s President and CEO, said, “During the quarter, we successfully launched our margin-accretive, customer-inspired Owned Brands and accelerated growth with our Digital First, Omni-Always focus. We are re-establishing our authority in home, recapturing market share and unlocking our full potential.”

In Q2, Bed Bath and Beyond is projecting net sales in the range of $2.04 billion and $2.08 billion against a consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. It is also projecting earnings of between $0.48 and $0.55 a share, against $0.52 projected by analysts.

Micron Technology (MU) delivered fiscal third-quarter results that topped Street estimates as it also confirmed a deal for the sale of its manufacturing site in Lehi, Utah, to Texas Instruments. Revenue in the quarter totaled $7.4 billion against consensus estimates of $7.23 billion and $5.4 billion reported a year ago. Adjusted EPS of $1.88 topped consensus estimates of $1.71 a share.

“Micron set multiple market and product revenue records in our third quarter and achieved the largest sequential earnings improvement in our history,” said Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.

Micron Technology expects revenues of $8.2 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter with a possible $200 million deviation. Adjusted EPS is expected at $2.30 against a $0.1 possible deviation. From the sale of the Lehi factory, the company expects to unlock about $1.5 billion in economic value.

AT&T (T) and Microsoft (MSFT) have deepened ties as part of a broader collaboration pact. As part of a new deal, the wireless carrier will move its wireless 5G network to Microsoft’s cloud platform. The cloud migration will allow AT&T to increase productivity and cut costs.

Additionally, Microsoft has inked a deal to acquire the carrier’s Network Cloud platform technology. The acquisition should help the software giant grow its Azure for Operators designed for telecom carriers.

“Through our collaboration with AT&T, Microsoft will expand its telecom portfolio to support operators with a carrier-grade cloud that provides seamless experiences across Microsoft’s cloud and the operator’s network,” said Jason Zander, Microsoft Azure’s Executive Vice President.

In M&A news, ExxonMobil (XOM) has reached an agreement to sell its Santoprene brand for $1.15 billion to Celanese. The transaction should close in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approval, and will involve two manufacturing facilities, one in Florida and the other in Newport, Wales.

Celanese will also gain access to Intellectual property as part of the deal, in addition to laboratory equipment and control systems. The company is acquiring a brand best known for producing specialty products, including Butyl rubber and Vista.

“Reaching this agreement with Celanese is consistent with our strategy and allows us to focus on serving the growing market for primary olefin derivatives, where we can leverage our competitive advantages of industry leading scale, integration and proprietary technology,” said Exxon Mobil’s SVP, Jack William.