U.S. stock futures are higher Wednesday morning, a day after markets rallied around 2.4% due to declining oil prices. But today, ADP monthly employment data will be released, as well as weekly oil inventories data. Investors will digest the numbers and the slew of earnings due for release.Already reported this morning (to name a few):
- Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) said its second-quarter profit rose 8% as cable TV rates rose and consumers ordered more digital and premium services. While the results fell short of Wall Street's forecast, CMCSA shares are trading mildly higher.
- Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) said its second-quarter profit more than doubled due to increased production and higher steel prices. It also gave an upbeat outlook for third quarter. The company outperformed consensus by about 20% at the revenue. MT shares, which have already close 7% higher Tuesday, are trading up another 6% in premarket action.
- Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) shares are crashing, trading 11% lower in premarket action after the company reported quarterly profit that was above market estimates, but revenue missed expectations and 2008 outlook was cut due to macroeconomic conditions and high fuel prices that have already impacted growth.
- Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) shares are over 1.7% lower in premarket trading after reporting a second-quarter loss as declining spending by smaller businesses and retail customers hurt sales.
- Siemens (NYSE: SI) reported that "third quarter net profit fell 31% due to a one-time gain a year earlier, but order intake and revenue rose, beating expectations and showing the industrial conglomerate's resilience so far to the economic downturn." SI shares are 3.9% higher in premarket trading.
- Corning (NYSE: GLW) shares are down over 2% in premarket trading after reporting inline earnings per share, but revenue slightly below estimates.
- IAC/InterActive (NASDAQ: IACI) said it swung to a second-quarter loss, hurt by a $300 million charge in its Cornerstone Brands business. Adjusted earnings were 35 cents per share as revenue rose 7% to $1.6 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 31 cents per share on $1.6 billion in sales.
- Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) is expected to report earnings of 18 cents a share according to First Call, lower than last year's result.
- Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is expected to report earnings of 61 cents a share according to First Call.
- Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, boosted by box office hits Iron Man and the latest Indiana Jones, but ad sales growth fell below the company's projections. Shares were 3.8% lower in after-hours trading.
- Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) posted a smaller net loss for its fiscal first quarter and more than doubled its revenue thanks to soaring sales of games. Both the earnings and revenue figures fell short of analyst estimates.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) unveiled on Tuesday a new payment service that it will offer other online retailers to use on their Web sites, directly competing with eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY)'s successful payment business PayPal.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) are significantly scaling back their auto-leasing business. Is the day coming when a new car will be out of reach for many Americans?
According to The Wall Street Journal, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) will try again to move against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL);s iPod with a new digital music player it has been testing. Seems to me this is a waste of time, money and effort better used by Dell to improve computer services. While digital music players are still strong, and while I don't have any hard data on hand, the feeling is people want their phone to supply them with players rather than have two gadgets.
