Stock futures were modestly higher on Wednesday after a push by House Democrats and President Donald Trump to increase stimulus payments for most Americans to $2,000 stalled in the Republican-led Senate.
Here are some of the top movers during premarket trading on Wednesday.
1. AstraZeneca AZN | Up 1.9%
American depositary receipts of AstraZeneca (AZN) – Get Report rose premarket on Wednesday after its coronavirus vaccine, being developed with the University of Oxford, was approved for emergency use by U.K.’s medical regulator.
“We’ve got enough of this vaccine on order to vaccinate the whole population,” U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC, the Financial Times reported. “By the spring, enough people will be protected to allow us to exit the pandemic,” he said.
2. Intel INTC | Down 0.6%
Shares of Intel (INTC) – Get Report dropped in premarket trading Wednesday after hedge fund Third Point urged the chipmaker to assess strategic alternatives, including possibly separating its design and manufacturing arms.
“We suggest the board retain a reputable investment advisor to evaluate strategic alternatives, including whether Intel should remain an integrated device manufacturer and the potential divestment of certain failed acquisitions,” a report in The Wall Street Journal said, citing the Third Point letter.
3. JD.com JD | Up 1.6%
American depositary receipts of JD.com (JD) – Get Report were rising premarket Wednesday after the board of the Chinese e-commerce giant approved plans to explore the feasibility and terms of a spinoff of its cloud and AI business, Bloomberg reported.
4. Tesla TSLA | Up 1.2%
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) – Get Report rose after Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said the electric-car maker is expected to surpass fourth-quarter delivery estimates and sell as many as 200,000 cars, compared with his earlier estimated 180,000.
The carmaker would have then sold 500,000 cars for 2020, Ives said.
“Based on our initial analysis of demand and the delivery trajectory globally for Tesla in [the fourth quarter], it appears Musk & Co. will likely handily exceed [Wall Street] and internal expectations,” Ives wrote in a note.
“Heading into year-end and 2021, we are seeing a major inflection of EV demand globally with our expectations that EV vehicles ramp from 3% of total auto sales today to 10% by 2025,” he said.
“We believe this demand dynamic will disproportionately benefit the clear EV category leader Tesla over the next few years, especially in the key China region, which we believe could represent 40% of its EV deliveries by 2022 given the current brisk pace of sales,” Ives added.
Ives said Tesla could hit one million delivery units globally by 2022 if China sales targets are met.
5. Nike NKE | Up 0.3%
Shares of sports retailer Nike (NKE) – Get Report rose after Guggenheim analyst Robert Drbul named Nike his best stock for 2021 as vaccine rollouts encouraged hopes of a reopening.
Drbul reiterated a buy rating on the shares with a $165 price target.
The analyst sees an improved outlook for apparel in 2021 given “optimism surrounding a vaccine and the return to some element of normalization.” There is “pent-up demand for apparel,” Drbul wrote in a research note.
Nike should benefit from “favorable secular tailwinds” and its market share should “grow materially from here” as its digital offering scales further, says the analyst.