The S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures fell on Thursday as Tesla kicked off second-quarter earnings for megacap growth and technology stocks on a somber note, while Netflix slid as quarterly revenue missed analyst estimates.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk signaled on Wednesday that he would cut prices again on electric vehicles in "turbulent times," even as his all-out price war squeezes the company's own margins.
Shares of the electric car maker slid 3.5% in premarket trading after Musk's comments, even as Tesla beat quarterly profit estimates.
"Amid the macroeconomic backdrop of sluggish global growth and a softening consumer, Tesla has been cutting prices several times to try to preserve demand," said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.
"However this has been weighing on its profit margins."
The tech-heavy Nasdaq has advanced 37.2% so far this year, supported by a scorching rally in megacap growth and technology stocks on optimism over artificial intelligence, a resilient U.S. economy and hopes that the Federal Reserve was nearing the end of its aggressive rate hike cycle.
Netflix fell 7.0% after the streaming video pioneer disappointed Wall Street with second-quarter revenue that fell short of analyst estimates.
Enterprise software provider IBM eased 1.0% after second-quarter revenue missed Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, dragged by a decline in the sales of its mainframe computers as businesses cut tech spending.
At 4:35 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 44 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 6.75 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 124.25 points, or 0.78%.
The Dow registered its longest winning streak in almost four years on Wednesday as investors gauged Goldman Sachs earnings, while major U.S regional banks jumped, saying their deposits mostly stabilized and net interest income rose after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the first quarter sparked an industry turmoil.
Among other earnings-driven moves, United Airlines advanced 2.6% on upgrading its full-year profit outlook after posting the highest ever quarterly earnings on booming demand for international travel.
U.S.-listed shares of Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC fell 2.7% after warning of a 10% drop in 2023 sales.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
