Check out some of the biggest movers in the premarket:
Kansas City Southern (KSU) – Shares of the railroad operator surged 18.9% in premarket trading after Canadian National Railway (CNI) offered $ 325 per share in cash and stock for the company, above an earlier offer of $ 275 per Canadian Pacific (CP) share. The Canadian national offer also includes $ 200 in cash per share, compared to $ 90 for Canadian Pacific’s offer. Canadian National plummeted 6.3%, while Canadian Pacific jumped 4%.
AutoNation (AN) – The auto trader earned an adjusted $ 2.79 per share for the last quarter, well above the consensus estimate of $ 1.87, while sales were also above estimates. Sales in the same store were 27% higher than a year earlier. The stock jumped 2.5% in premarket action.
IBM (IBM) – IBM reported quarterly earnings of $ 1.77 a share, beating consensus estimates by 14 cents a share. Sales also exceeded expectations. Quarterly revenue growth was the best in more than two years, helped by strong performance from the cloud computing unit. The share gained 3.4% in the premarket.
Procter & Gamble (PG) – The consumer products company beat estimates by 7 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of $ 1.26 a share. Sales also exceeded estimates. One of the positive factors for P&G: continued strong demand for cleaning products. P&G also announced it would increase prices for a variety of products at mid to high single digit percentages in September.
Travelers (TRV) – Strong underwriting results and improved investment returns helped Travelers beat estimates by 36 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of $ 2.73 per share. The company exceeded analyst expectations despite winter storms that more than doubled the number of casualties from a year ago. Travelers also increased the dividend and added $ 5 billion to the share buyback program. The stock rose 1.7% in premarket trading.
Lockheed Martin (LMT) – The defense contractor’s quarterly results exceeded Wall Street estimates, and the company raised its full-year forecast for a variety of financial metrics, including revenue and cash from operations. However, sales were slightly lower than analyst forecasts.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – Johnson & Johnson reported quarterly earnings of $ 2.59 per share, compared to a consensus estimate of $ 2.34 per share. Sales also exceeded expectations, helped by a rebound in medical devices and strong pharmaceutical sales.
United Airlines (UAL) – United lost $ 7.50 a share in the first quarter, more than the $ 7.08 loss analysts expected. The airline’s revenues were slightly below estimates for the quarter amid higher fuel costs and still subdued demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic. United said it expects a return to profitability later this year. Shares fell 3.3% in premarket action.
British American Tobacco (BTI), Altria (MO) – These and other tobacco stocks remain under pressure this morning, following a Wall Street Journal report that the White House may order tobacco companies to cut nicotine levels in all cigarettes. British American Tobacco lost 3% in the premarket, while Altria was down 2.3%.
Tesla (TSLA) – Tesla CEO Elon Musk said company audits indicated the “Autopilot” feature was not activated during a fatal Texas crash that killed two people over the weekend. Police are still investigating, but say no one was behind the wheel when the car crashed into a tree. Tesla was down 1% in the premarket.
Zions Bancorp (ZION) – Zions reported quarterly earnings of $ 1.90 per share, compared to consensus estimates of $ 1.16 per share. Sales were also above estimates. The bank called an improving credit environment and what it called a “substantial reversal” of loan loss provisions, which it had instituted at the heart of the pandemic.
Apple (AAPL) – Apple today will host a virtual event that is expected to unveil new iPads, iMacs and “AirTags” that allow users to track devices they don’t want to miss.
Xerox (XRX) – Xerox was down 2.8% in premarket trading after missing estimates by 8 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of 22 cents a share. Turnover was higher than expected. Xerox continued to see an impact from offices closed due to the pandemic.