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Mar 21, 2025
U.S. stock futures fell Friday morning as the S&P 500 tries to snap a 4-week losing streak caused by trade policy turmoil, recession fears and a rollover in megacap technology shares.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 were down by 0.7%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 257 points, or 0.6
%. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.9%.
The action follows a losing session for the major averages. On Thursday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3%. The 30-stock Dow lost 11.31 points, or 0.03%.
Nevertheless, the S&P 500 is on pace for a 0.4% advance week to date, and it’s about to break a four-week losing streak. The benchmark briefly fell into correction territory at one point during the monthlong rout. It sits about 8% from its record high going into Friday, short of the 10% correction level, as it tried to mount a comeback from the turmoil.
The bulk of the market’s gains came on Wednesday when Federal Reserve policymakers kept their forecast for two rate cuts this year.
Still, the Fed also raised its inflation outlook and trimmed its economic growth expectations. The new forecast raised the specter of stagflation – a scenario of rising inflation as the economy’s growth slows. Uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariff policies has rattled stocks in recent weeks, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that tariffs may “delay” progress on inflation.
Tariff worries are also weighing on companies, according to Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management.
“Companies are increasingly citing confusion and uncertainty around their planning and capital spending and hiring decisions — and when they pause, it means that they’re slowing down,” he said. “There’s an element of that playing out in the markets.”
FedEx shares were hurting sentiment, with shares of the bellwether transportation company down 9% in early trading Friday. FedEx cut its earnings outlook, citing “weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy.”
Nike shares were off by 7% in premarket trading after the shoe and apparel giant said sales this quarter would miss analysts’ expectations because of tariffs and falling consumer confidence.
The Dow is on track for a 1.1% gain this week, marking its best weekly performance since late January. The Nasdaq, however, is off about 0.4% in the period, heading for its fifth straight losing week and its longest stretch of weekly losses since May 2022.
Nomura downgrades Temu parent to neutral on geopolitical risks
Jaque Silva | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Nomura analyst Jialong Shi downgraded shares of PDD Holdings, the parent company of Chinese e-commerce site Temu, in a Friday note.
Shares of PDD have rallied 35% this year, but are up just 7% over the past 12 months. Shi’s price target of $130, reduced from $137, is slightly below PDD’s Thursday closing price of $130.92 per share.
As a catalyst for the downgrade, Shi pointed to PDD’s fourth-quarter revenue growth of 24% year over year, which was 5% below the Street’s forecast.
“We attribute the deceleration of TSR [transaction service revenue] to: 1) the slower growth of Temu’s U.S. business as it may have to slow its investments owing to rising geopolitical uncertainties after the US elections last November, 2) the merchant-friendly measures released since last Sept, including, among others, the refund of commission fees offered for the returned merchandise,” the analyst said.
Specifically, Shi approximated that the U.S. market currently forms around 30% to 40% of Temu’s overseas sales, but estimates that this number will slow throughout 2025.
— Lisa Kailai Han
See the stocks moving in premarket trading
These are some of the stocks making notable moves before the bell:
FedEx — Shares tumbled more than 8% after the parcel delivery company slashed its full-year guidance, citing “continued weakness and uncertainty” in the U.S. industrial economy. United Parcel Service shares retreated 1.5% in sympathy.Nike — The athletic apparel maker dropped nearly 7% after warning that sales will decline in the current quarter.Danaher — Shares of the conglomerate added 2% following an upgrade to buy from Goldman Sachs, which said the stock could outperform after a tough period.
Click here for the full list.
— Alex Harring
FedEx slides after earnings miss, reduced outlook
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesFedEx logo is seen on a truck in Krakow, Poland on September 25, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
FedEx shares declined more than 8% in the premarket Friday after the shipping company reported weaker-than-expected earnings and cut its full-year forecast.
For the fiscal third quarter, FedEx posted adjusted earnings of $4.51 per share, while analysts had expected $4.54 per share, according to LSEG. Revenue in the quarter topped analyst estimates, however.
When it comes to the full year, FedEx now expects its adjusted earnings to come in between $18 and $18.60 per share, down from its prior forecast of $19 to $20 per share.
“Our revised earnings outlook reflects continued weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy, which is constraining demand for our business-to-business services,” John Dietrich, FedEx’s chief financial officer, said in a statement.
This year, shares have underperformed the broader market, falling 12.5%.
— Sean Conlon
Nike shares fall after issuing weak outlook
Scott Olson | Getty ImagesCustomers shop at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store on March 11, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
Shares of Nike fell more than 6% in premarket trading on Friday after the sneaker giant said that its sales for the current quarter will see a double-digit-percentage decline.
Nike Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend said in a conference call with analysts that the company anticipates its fourth-quarter sales decline to come in at the “low end” of the “mid-teens range,” worse than what Wall Street was expecting.
However, Nike’s third-quarter earnings and revenue beat analysts’ expectations, posting earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $11.27 billion. That’s above the 29 cents per share in earnings and $11.01 billion in revenue that analysts surveyed by LSEG were anticipating.
Nike shares have lagged in recent months, seeing a drop of nearly 17% over the past six. The S&P 500 has fallen almost 1% in that period. The stock has also fallen more than 6% in the past month, likewise underperforming the broader market.
— Sean Conlon, Gabrielle Fonrouge
Hong Kong slides over 2%, while other Asian markets trade mixed
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 2.19% on Friday to close at 23,689.72, with the index dragged by healthcare and consumer cyclical stocks. Other markets in Asia traded mixed, with mainland China’s CSI 300 falling 1.52% and closing at 3,914.7.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% to 37,677.06, and the broad-based Topix added 0.29% to close at 2,804.16, notching a seven-day winning streak. The Topix had earlier hit an intraday high of 2,818.04, its highest level since July 2024.
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.23% to 2,643.13 and marked five straight days of gains, while the small-cap Kosdaq dipped 0.79% to end at 719.41.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.16% higher, closing at 7,931.2.
— Lim Hui Jie
Morgan Stanley lowers Tesla price target
Patrick Pleul | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesTesla Model Y electric vehicles are collected from the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg by a car transporter. Three years ago, on March 22, 2022, the Tesla e-car factory in Grünheide, east of Berlin, was opened.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas trimmed his price target on Tesla shares, citing weak auto deliveries.
Jonas reduced his target to $410 from $430 per share, which still implies shares climbing 73.5% from Thursday’s close. He remained overweight on the name and kept it a “top pick,” however.
The analyst cut his first-quarter delivery estimates to 351,000, down more than 9% on a year-over-year basis. That compares to his earlier call for 415,000 deliveries — which would’ve reflected an increase of more than 7% from the year-ago period.
The full story can be found here.
— Hakyung Kim
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading:
FedEx — Shares slipped more than 4% after the shipping company reported an earnings miss in the fiscal third quarter. FedEx posted adjusted earnings of $4.51 per share, while analysts polled by LSEG had called for $4.54 per share. Meanwhile, quarterly revenues of $22.16 billion came slightly above consensus forecasts for $21.89 billion.Micron Technology — The provider of memory and storage solutions jumped 4%. Micron offered a rosy outlook for the fiscal third quarter, calling for adjusted earnings of $1.57 per share on $8.80 billion of revenue. That surpassed Wall Street’s forecast for earnings of $1.47 per share on revenue of $8.50 billion, per LSEG. Top- and bottom-line results for the second quarter also beat expectations.Nike — The sports apparel giant advanced 2%. In the fiscal third quarter, Nike reported earnings of 54 cents per share and revenue of $11.27 billion, topping analysts’ call for 29 cents per share in earnings and $11.01 billion in revenue, per LSEG. Sales were down 9% from the year-ago period, however.
The full list can be found here.
— Hakyung Kim
Stock futures open little changed
U.S. stock futures opened near the flatline Thursday night.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 inched up 0.06%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures inched up 0.02%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.08%.
— Hakyung Kim
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