Before the bell: Futures down on SBUX, AMZN, despite AAPL, Ford

Posted Apr 24th 2008 7:38AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, Earnings Reports, Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Starbucks (SBUX), Amazon.com (AMZN), Ford Motor (F), Motorola (MOT), American Express (AXP), Boeing Co (BA), US Airways Group (LCC), Economic Data, Federal Reserve

It seems that despite Apple's crushing earnings and sales estimates Wednesday and Ford swinging to profit this morning, investors are wary of earnings. Stock futures declined early Thursday following Amazon's earnings, Starbucks' profit warnings as well as other companies. In addition, debate over an expected pause in the Federal Reserve recent wave of rate cuts as well as some data seem to leave investors more on a cautious mood this morning.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Wednesday after better-than-forecast results from Boeing (NYSE: BA) helped sentiment on the Street, albeit in a choppy manner. The Dow industrials finished nearly 43 points higher, or 0.34%, the S&P 500 rose almost 4 points, or 0.29%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 28 points, or 1.29%.

Today, several economic reports are due out. At 8:30 a.m., weekly initial jobless claims will be released, as well as March durable goods orders. At 10:00 a.m., new home sales will come out, where another drop is expected.

This morning, investors are still digesting reports from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).
While Apple beat estimates on both the top line and bottom line, reporting a 43% jump in sales and a 36% rise in profit, as well as Mac sales that blew all expectations, the iPhone maker gave a conservative outlook. Shares are down nearly 1.5% in premarket trading.
Amazon shares were hurt even more, dropping nearly 4.5% in premarket trading despite a 29% climb in profit and a 36% jump in sales. Investors were more concerned with the company's profit margins and outlook.

From this morning, Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) has already missed earnings estimates, but Ford (NYSE: F) managed to post a surprising $100 million profit. Ford shares are up nearly 5.5% in premarket trading, while WHR shares are down about 6.3% in premarket trading.

Also reporting today are Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) before the opening bell. Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) and American Express (NYSE: AXP) report after the close.

And if anyone missed last night's profit warning from Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), they won't miss the likely 10% decline in the share price at the start if premarket trading is any indication.

Tags: aapl, amzn, axp, ba, f, featured, lcc, mot, msft, sbux, whr