Stock futures indicated a weaker start for Wall Street on Monday as investors gear up for a busy week filled with earnings reports from tech companies and retailers. In addition, the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, is awaited.
Berkshire Hathaway Reports Strong Fourth-Quarter Earnings
Berkshire Hathaway revealed that its fourth-quarter operating earnings after taxes surged by 28% to $8.5 billion. This growth was driven by the company’s robust insurance business performance and an increase in investment income. The conglomerate’s cash reserves also hit a record high of $167.7 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to $157 billion on Sept. 30. As a result, Berkshire’s class B shares were seen climbing by 4.6%.
Alcoa Announces Acquisition Deal with Alumina
Alcoa has struck a deal to acquire Australia’s Alumina, valuing the company at approximately $2.2 billion. The two companies jointly operate the Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals venture, which holds interests in bauxite mines and alumina refineries across various locations such as Australia, Brazil, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Guinea. Alumina’s board has supported the all-stock deal, with Alcoa’s premarket trading showing a modest decline of 0.8%.
Intuitive Machines Lunar Lander Mishap
Shares of Intuitive Machines took a steep 29% dive after the company’s Odysseus lunar lander tipped over upon landing on the moon’s surface. The incident resulted in some of the lander’s antennas not pointing towards Earth, hindering its communications. Despite this setback, the company assured that its science payloads remained intact and operational.
Broadcom Nears $3.8 Billion Deal with Private-Equity Firm
Broadcom is on the verge of striking a $3.8 billion deal to sell its business end-user computing unit, allowing users to access desktops and applications from any device, to private-equity firm KKR. Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the deal’s announcement could come as early as Monday. In response to the news, Broadcom’s shares saw a modest 0.7% increase.
Changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Ahead of Monday’s trading session, Amazon.com is set to replace Walgreens Boots Alliance as one of the 30 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Both Amazon and Walgreens witnessed a slight decline in their shares during premarket trading.
Upcoming Earnings Reports
Monday is poised to bring earnings reports from Workday, Li Auto, Heico, Zoom Video Communications, Domino’s Pizza, and Unity Software. Investors can also anticipate reports later in the week from companies such as Lowe’s, Monster Beverage, AutoZone, eBay, First Solar, Salesforce, Snowflake, TJX Cos., Baidu, HP Inc., Paramount Global, Okta, Nutanix, Macy’s, Anheuser-Busch, Dell Technologies, Autodesk, Zscaler, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, C3.ai, Best Buy, Plug Power, and fuboTV.