Stock index futures were searching for direction on Wednesday, as traders looked forward to earnings reports from big companies, including Tesla (TSLA) and assessed Netflix’s (NFLX) results. Here are four stocks to watch on the day:
Class A common stock of Alphabet (GOOGL) rose 2.1% before the opening bell as reports suggested that Anthropic PBC (ANTHRO) is in discussions with Alphabet’s Google (GOOG) (GOOGL). This deal would provide the artificial intelligence company with additional computing power valued in the high tens of billions of dollars. The plan, which has not been finalized, involves Google providing cloud computing services to Anthropic.
Walmart (WMT) was nearly flat in premarket trade as reports suggested that the firm has paused job offers to candidates requiring H-1B visas. The pause follows the Trump administration imposing a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications. Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is the largest user of these visas among major retailers, employing around 2,390 H-1B holders, according to government data.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) stock rose 2.9% before the opening bell, and its shares will be keenly watched. The firm on Tuesday said it was undertaking a strategic review of its assets, citing multiple unsolicited interests for both the entire company and just its studio and streaming operations, i.e., Warner Bros. The company also reportedly rejected an offer of nearly $24 a share from Paramount Skydance.
AT&T (T) shares rose 0.9% in premarket trade as the firm beat expectations for key subscriber metrics in the third quarter, which helped investors overlook the in-line profit and revenue miss. In Q3, the company added 288,000 fiber subscribers, ahead of the Bloomberg consensus estimate of 273,747.