A Lululemon store in New York, US, on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.
2 hours ago
Carnival Corp — Shares of the cruise line climbed 2.5% in premarket trading after Susquehanna upgraded Carnival to positive from neutral. The investment firm said in a note to clients that Carnival has “ample liquidity” and should be able to improve its unit margins this year.
Urban Outfitters, Burlington, Foot Locker, Ross Stores — Major apparel and home goods retailers were in the red on Wednesday morning after UBS downgraded the group to sell from neutral, saying it sees at least 23% downside to its price targets for each of the companies as a slowdown in consumer spending curbs the industry’s earnings prospects. Shares of Urban Outfitters and Ross were down 2.3%, Burlington by 2.6% and Foot Locker was down 1.9% before the bell.
Bath & Body Works — Shares of the home care and fragrances retailer fell more than 2% after a UBS downgrade, saying it expects a recessionary environment to weigh on the stock this year and next. UBS calls many of the company’s products as 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 manufacturer added 2.6% after falling 1% Tuesday. Micron fiscal second quarter results missed analyst expectations on both the top and bottom lines, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates. Micron lost $1.91 per share, larger than the loss of 86 cents per share expected, while revenue came in at $3.69 billion vs a $3.71 billion consensus estimate. Micron plans a larger-than-originally anticipated headcount reduction and told Barron’s bloated customer inventories are diminishing.
Paychex Inc. — Shares of the payroll services company were up nearly 3% premarket ahead of fiscal third-quarter earnings due after the close on Wednesday. Analysts expect revenue of $1.36 billion and earnings per share of $1.25, according to FactSet. The stock has dropped 5.9% so far this year.
UBS — Shares of the Swiss bank stock were 2.7% higher in early trading after UBS said former CEO Sergio Ermotti will replace current CEO Ralph Hamers effective next week. Ermotti was CEO for nine years until Oct. 2020 and Hamers will stay on to advise during the transition. UBS agreed on March 19 to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs, or $3.2 billion.
— CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Alex Harring, Tanaya Macheel and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.