US STOCKS-Futures falter as Meta Platforms weighs on megacaps

On this front, Meta's earnings were a disappointment," Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said. Alphabet, Microsoft and Intel are scheduled to report their quarterly numbers on Thursday after markets close. Royal Caribbean Group gained 3.6% after the cruise operator raised its annual profit forecast for a second time. Comcast added 2% after beating quarterly revenue estimates, while Ford gained 2.1% as the automaker's first-quarter earnings beat Wall Street's expectations.

U.S. stock index futures slipped on Thursday as shares of most megacap growth stocks took a beating after dour quarterly results from Meta Platforms, ahead of more economic data in the week that could influence the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

Meta plunged 14.1% in premarket trading after the Facebook-parent forecast higher expenses and lighter-than-expected revenue. Social media firms such as Snap and Pinterest fell 5.1% and 4.8%, respectively.

Most other growth stocks also came under pressure, with Alphabet, Amazon.com and Microsoft down between 2% and 2.9%. "These earnings were a test to see if Big Tech firms that implement AI tech, rather than make the hardware, can generate revenue from AI. On this front, Meta's earnings were a disappointment," Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said.

Alphabet, Microsoft and Intel are scheduled to report their quarterly numbers on Thursday after markets close. At 7:10 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 226 points, or 0.58%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 36.5 points, or 0.71%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 189.25 points, or 1.07%.

Growing tensions in the Middle East and shifting expectations for interest rate cuts from the Fed have pressured equities recently, with markets now keenly awaiting the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the U.S. central bank's preferred inflation gauge, on Friday to ascertain the timing of the rate cut. Money markets are pricing in just about 42 basis points of rate cuts from the Fed this year, down from about 150 bps seen at the start of the year, according to LSEG data.

For the day, focus will be on gross domestic product advance data for the first quarter and weekly jobless claims numbers, both due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Downbeat results from other technology-linked stocks also weighed on equities.

International Business Machines dropped 8.6% after the firm said it will buy HashiCorp in a deal valued at $6.4 billion, and as its first-quarter revenue missed estimates. Southwest Airlines slid 8.8% after slashing its estimates for new aircraft deliveries from Boeing in 2024 for the third time, saying it plans to undertake cost-cutting measures to ease the resultant blow.

Caterpillar lost 3.9% after the company said it expects sales to fall in the second quarter as demand for its construction equipment eases from last year's boom. Royal Caribbean Group gained 3.6% after the cruise operator raised its annual profit forecast for a second time.

Comcast added 2% after beating quarterly revenue estimates, while Ford gained 2.1% as the automaker's first-quarter earnings beat Wall Street's expectations.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)