A Lululemon store in New York, USA, on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Stephanie Keet | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell rings.
Lululemon – Lululemon shares rose more than 16% before Wednesday’s open after posting a strong holiday quarter and sharing optimistic outlook for the current fiscal year. The athleisure wear company reported adjusted earnings of $4.40 per share on $2.77 billion in revenue and said same-store sales were up 27%.
Carnival Corp — Shares of the cruise line rose 2.5% in premarket trading after Susquehanna upgraded Carnival from neutral to positive. The investment firm said in a note to clients that Carnival has “plenty of liquidity” and should be able to improve its unit margins this year.
Urban Outfitters, Burlington, Foot Locker, Ross stores – Major clothing and homeware retailers were in the red on Wednesday morning after UBS downgraded the group from neutral to sales, saying it sees at least a 23% downtrend for each of the companies on price targets as a slowdown in consumer spending pushes the industry curbs earnings outlook. Shares of Urban Outfitters and Ross fell 2.3%, Burlington 2.6% and Foot Locker fell 1.9% before the bell.
Bath and body works — Shares of the home care and fragrance retailer fell more than 2% following a downgrade from UBS as it expects a recession to weigh on shares this year and next. UBS calls many of the company’s products discretionary, pointing to candles as an example, and areas where consumers “will choose to spend less in a challenging macro environment.”
Micron technology — The semiconductor maker added 2.6% after falling 1% Tuesday. Micron’s fiscal second quarter results beat analyst expectations on both the top and bottom lines, according to Refinitiv’s consensus estimates. Micron lost $1.91 per share, more than the expected loss of 86 cents per share, while revenue was $3.69 billion versus a consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Micron is planning a headcount cut that is larger than initially anticipated told Barron that inflated customer inventories are declining.
Paychex Inc. — Shares of the payroll services company were up nearly 3% premarket, ahead of fiscal third-quarter earnings expected after Wednesday’s close. Analysts expect revenue of $1.36 billion and earnings per share of $1.25, according to FactSet. The stock is down 5.9% year to date.
UBS — Shares of Swiss bank stocks were up 2.7% in early trading after UBS said former CEO Sergio Ermotti will replace current CEO Ralph Hamers next week. Ermotti served as CEO for nine years until October 2020 and Hamers will remain on to advise during the transition. UBS agreed to buy on March 19 Credit Switzerland for 3 billion Swiss francs, or $3.2 billion.
– CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Alex Harring, Tanaya Macheel and Samantha Subin contributed to the reporting.
