Stock futures rise slightly as investors look past disappointing tech earnings, Meta shares crater

Traders on the floor of the NYSE, Sept. 13, 2022.

Source: NYSE

Stock futures rose slightly early on Thursday morning as investors seemed to brush off disappointing results from Meta Platforms.

Shares of the Facebook parent company plummeted nearly 20% in extended trading on a weak fourth-quarter forecast. ServiceNow shares, meanwhile, surged more than 10% after an earnings beat.

Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 traded 0.12% higher, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.3%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 116 points, or 0.36%.

Stocks were mixed in Wednesday’s regular trading session as traders digested disappointing quarterly reports from Alphabet and Microsoft, and assessed what that means for future Federal Reserve rate hikes and economic growth.

Both the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 snapped three-day win streaks, closing 2.04% and 0.74% lower, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished marginally higher, gaining 2.37 points to 31,839.11 and capping off its fourth consecutive positive session since September.

For the week, all the major averages remain in positive territory, with the Dow and S&P up more than 2% and Nasdaq roughly 1% higher. The Dow is on pace for its fourth positive week in a row since its five-week streak ended in November 2021.

“Investors are still struggling for direction and want clarity with respect to earnings and what the Fed will do going forward,” said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments. “Remember, the market is a forward-looking mechanism and the earnings reports tell us what happened in the past. Investors want clarity and certainty. Right now, we still have a lot of uncertainty on multiple levels.”

Big technology earnings continue Thursday with results from Amazon and Apple. Earnings from Intel, McDonald’s, Merck and Caterpillar are also on deck.

Along with earnings, investors have their sights on an advanced reading of third-quarter gross domestic product expected to offer further clues into the state of the U.S. economy.

Weekly initial jobless claims and September durable goods are also slated for Thursday.