Meta Surges in Premarket; McDonald’s, Merck, Qualcomm All Rise

2022.04.28 16:26

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — Stocks in focus in premarket on Thursday, 28th April. Please refresh for updates.

• Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) rose 14.3% after the owner of Facebook indicator reported a surprisingly large gain in users in the quarter, suggesting that Instagram Reels is holding its own in competition with TikTok. Slowing revenue growth and a big loss on developing ‘Metaverse’ themed products were, apparently, fully priced in.
• Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) stock rose 6.2% after the chipmaker beat forecasts with its quarterly numbers and raised its guidance. Sales were particularly strong in the mobile phone segment. Overnight, Qualcomm’s big customer Samsung (KS:005930) had also reported its strongest March quarter since 2018.
• Ford Motor (NYSE:F) stock rose 1.9% after upholding its full-year guidance in the face of worsening problems with global supply chains. Its quarterly results were stamped by a big negative mark-to-market on its stake in Rivian. The same factor will likely be reflected in Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) earnings after the bell. Adjusted earnings per share were 38c, 1 cent ahead of forecasts, while revenue from vehicle sales was also a fraction ahead.
• Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) stock fell 2.2% after the maker of heavy equipment cut its outlook for the full year due to the uncertain economic picture in China. The company, which is widely seen as a rough proxy for global business investment, reported earnings per share some 10% ahead of expectations.
• Merck (NYSE:MRK) stock rose 1.8% after the pharma company said it generated $3.2 billion in sales with its COVID-19 antiviral pill in the quarter. It raised its full-year earnings per share forecast to a range around $7.30, from a previous range around $7.15.
• PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock rose 2.8% despite the payments company cutting its full-year guidance. Analysts said the worst of its downward revisions was now likely behind it.
• McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) stock rose 1.3% after the burger chain said global comparable sales rose 11.8% in the first quarter, a reflection of easing COVID-19 controls worldwide. U.S. sales rose 3.5%, while adjusted earnings per share came in some 5% ahead of expectations at $2.28.
• Unilever (NYSE:UL) ADRs fell 0.7% after the U.K.-based consumer group warned of rising cost inflation in the second half of this year. Its first quarter sales grew 7.3% as it raised the prices of everything from shampoo to noodles and cleaning fluids. Sales by volume fell 1%.
• Altria (NYSE:MO) stock fell 2.5% after missing revenue forecasts for the first quarter.

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