Stock futures were higher this morning, indicating stocks could have a positive start to the session as oil prices continued to decline, sinking below $127 a barrel. Weekly inventories numbers reported later today could have an impact on oil prices. Then there is continued optimism in the financial sector, which caused the rally Tuesday. Also, a bill aimed at helping the housing market will reach the House floor. But once again earnings will likely have investors' attention with Costco already giving a profit warning.Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) shares are plunging over 8% in premarket trading after the wholesale retailer warned its August-ending quarter's profit would miss analyst estimates. This is most surprising as Costco had been one of the retailer that seemed to have benefited from consumers trying to save and buy lower-cost items. But Costco blamed the lower profit on rising energy costs, saying it will earn less than $1 per share.
Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM) late Tuesday reported second-quarter results, posting a loss of $3.3 billion, was worse than analysts had anticipated. Excluding one-time items, WaMu lost $3.34 per share, much wider than the expected loss of $1.05 per share. Piper Jaffray downgraded WM shares from Neutral to Sell and Friedman Billings halved its target price on the shares from $8 to $4. Shares are off nearly 3% in premarket trading.
Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) also reported profits and sales that came up short of estimates. Second-quarter profit fell 18% to $131 million, or 9 cents per share. Analysts had projected earnings of 11 cents per share in the most recent quarter, according to Thomson Financial. Revenue grew 6% to $1.8 billion, or $1.35 billion after subtracting commissions, also below estimates. Yahoo! shares, however, are up about 3% in premarket trading since investors were relieved the performance wasn't as bad as many had feared after Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) reported last week and disappointed investors. Also, Yahoo didn't dramatically lower its revenue outlook for the remainder of the year.
Boeing Co NYSE: BA) has just announced results, saying quarterly profit fell due to a charge. The plane maker reported Q2 EPS of $1.16, with $0.22 charge, versus the consensus of $1.23. Revenues came in at $17 billion, versus the consensus of $17.24 billion. Boeing also reaffirmed 2008, 2009 forecast.
PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) reported higher quarterly profit on Wednesday, as net income rose to $1.7 billion, or $1.05 per share. Excluding items, earnigns per share were $1.03. Net revenue rose 14% to $10.95 billion. The company benefited from strong international demand and the weak U.S. dollar. The company raised its revenue outlook.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) shares are up more than 3% in premarket after the pharmaceutical said second-quarter profits more than doubled. The company earned $2.78 billion, or 41 cents per share. Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 55 cents per share, beating estimates by a penny. Revenue rose 9% to $12.13 billion, of which 7% was due to the dollar. U.S. sales fell 2%.
Another busy day for earnings includes results from McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), AT&T (NYSE: T) and ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Anheuser-Busch Cos (NYSE: BUD) among many others.
In non-earnings news, TechCrunch reports that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is in final negotiations to acquire Digg for "Around $200 Million."
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