US stock futures were mixed on Thursday after three days of losses as yesterday’s inflation report indicated that consumer prices rose in April raising concerns that the Federal Reserve may make some changes to its fiscal policy.
While the Dow and S&P futures were down 0.3% and 0.02% each, Nasdaq futures were up 0.4% at the time of writing.
Companies expected to report today before the opening bell include Alibaba (BABA), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM), XPeng Inc (XPEV), and Sotera Health (SHC) while Walt Disney (DIS), Coinbase (COIN), DoorDash (DASH) and Airbnb (ABNB) are expected to report after the market close.
Fuel Tech Inc (FTEK), a technology-based provider of pollution control solutions was the most actively traded stock as the company announced its first-quarter results. FTEK posted revenues of $5 million, up 33.2% year-on-year while the company reported net income of $0.4 million versus a net loss of $2.6 million in the same quarter last year.
Palisade Bio (PALI) was the biggest gainer in pre-market trading as the stock shot up by 35.2% at the time of writing. The late-stage biopharma company announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given a fast track designation for its drug, LB1148, which is used for reducing adhesions following pelvic and abdominal surgery.
Evoke Pharma (EVOK) was the biggest laggard in pre-market trading as the stock plunged 17.1% at the time of writing. The specialty pharmaceutical company announced its Q1 results with net sales of $90,000, while net losses widened to $2.6 million versus a net loss of $1.8 million in the same quarter last year.
Tesla (TSLA), the maker of electric vehicles is working to revamp its autopilot system to fix a braking problem. Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the updated autopilot software is expected to be released in the next few months. However, Musk cautioned that it would be difficult to predict accurately the exact timing of the software update.
In earnings news, Upstart Holdings (UPST), the artificial intelligence (AI) based lending platform posted triple-digit growth in earnings of around 340% in the first quarter, with adjusted earnings of $0.22 per share beating consensus estimates of $0.15 per share. Total revenue of $121.3 million was up 90% year-on-year, surpassing Street estimates of $116.1 million.
Upstart CEO Dave Girouard said, “Upstart is delivering a combination of growth and profits that is rare in FinTech and in the technology industry overall.”
Girouard further added, “The advantages of AI in lending are becoming more apparent by the day and Upstart is synonymous with this newly emerging category.”
Lockheed Martin (LMT), a security and aerospace company has partnered with IFS, an enterprise application company to deliver an intelligent maintenance solution to the U.S. Navy.
Reeves Valentine, Vice President of Lockheed Martin’s Enterprise Sustainment Solutions said, “We want to empower Navy personnel with tools that are easy and effective to use with intuitive interfaces, streamlined workflows and timesaving, intelligent features. IFS distinguished itself by providing all of these capabilities through a single, commercial-off-the-shelf solution.”
The biotech company, Moderna (MRNA) will supply 25 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to Australia. This order would include 10 million doses of mRNA-1273 expected to be delivered this year, while the remaining 15 million doses will consist of Moderna’s updated variant booster vaccine candidate that would be delivered by next year.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said, “We appreciate the partnership and support from the government of Australia with this first supply agreement for doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and our variant booster candidates”.
In M&A news, PerkinElmer Inc. (PKI), a provider of cell, vaccine, and gene research products and solutions has announced the acquisition of Nexcelom Bioscience, a provider of automated cell counting and imaging products for a total cash consideration of $260 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
PerkinElmer President and CEO Prahlad Singh said, “We are looking forward to bringing Nexcelom’s expertise and technologies in drug development together with our passion and solutions for drug discovery.”
