Stock index futures were lower on Friday as the January wholesale inflation report came in hotter than expected.
Here are the four stocks to watch on the day:
Paramount Skydance (PSKY) rose 4.96% in premarket trade after Netflix (NFLX) announced it will not raise its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Warner Bros. Discovery’s board deemed a sweetened, all-company takeover offer from Paramount Skydance as “superior.” The revised Paramount Skydance offer stands at $31.00 per share in cash, a one-dollar increase from its earlier bid, valuing the company at approximately $108 billion.
Meta Platforms (META) fell 1.37% before the opening bell on reports the company is facing difficulties with internally developed AI chips. According to The Information, Meta has scrapped its most advanced chip designed for training AI models after struggling with the chip’s design. The company has shifted its focus to a less complicated version within its AI infrastructure division.
Amazon (AMZN) declined 0.97% in premarket trade following a report that the company plans to use its proprietary Trainium and Inferentia processors to develop AI models. “If we can build our models on our chips, we can build them at a fraction of the cost of a pure-play AI model provider,” Amazon’s artificial intelligence head Peter DeSantis told The Wall Street Journal. The move is part of a broader effort by the e-commerce giant to achieve cost advantages in the competitive AI landscape.
Costco (COST) traded flat in premarket trade after Bank of America reinstated coverage with a Buy rating. Analyst Christopher Nardone highlighted the retailer’s strong appeal to higher-income consumers and 9% to 10% growth in executive memberships. The shift toward $130-per-year executive tiers is viewed as a sign that consumers are rewarding Costco for its expanding list of perks.