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U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Monday, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the weekend doubled down on last week's central bank message that it was unlikely that rate cuts will be made in March. Here are some actions to consider on Monday:
- McDonald's shares (New York Stock Exchange:MCD) fell more than 2% in premarket trading, after the world's largest fast food chain posted a rare quarterly revenue loss. Additionally, the Dow 30 component's comparable sales performance in the fourth quarter of 2023 was also behind expectations, with global sales increasing 3.4% versus the consensus of +4.8%. US comparable sales growth was +4.3% compared to an estimate of +4.5%. International comparable sales growth was especially weak, with the operated markets segment seeing a +4.4% increase and the developing licensed markets segment posting a +0.7% increase. Analysts were expecting +8.3% and +5.1%, respectively. See how MCD performed on the charts.
- Tyson Foods (TSN) Stock rose more than 5% before the opening bell, after the meat processing giant smashed quarterly profit expectations despite limited price increases from a year ago. Tyson (TSN) earned 69 cents per share on an adjusted basis for the first quarter of 2024, easily beating the consensus estimate by 27 cents. Revenue rose slightly 0.5% year-over-year to $13.32 billion. The company's beef and chicken segments saw a drop in quarterly volume, although that was offset by a +7.7% increase in pork.
- Palantir Technologies Class A Shares (PLTR) will be the focus, with the data analytics software company scheduled for fourth quarter 2023. Wall Street expects PLTR to earn 8 cents per share on revenue of 602. 80 million dollars. Investors and analysts will pay close attention to the performance of the company's commercial division, whose business accounts for about a fifth of Palantir's (PLTR) sales. William Blair recently warned that the company's overall growth is expected to lag behind its rivals due to “widening cracks” in its US government, its international government and its international trade businesses.
- Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) Stock increased more than 10% before the market opened, after the company reached a deal to sell its aquatics business to Merck's (MRK) animal health business for $1.3 billion in cash. Once the deal closes, Merck (MRK) will have access to drugs, vaccines, supplements and other products that Elanco (ELAN) markets for aquatic species. As part of the transaction, ELAN will also sell two manufacturing facilities in Canada and Vietnam and a research facility in Chile.
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