An AMC Theater on March 29, 2023 in New York City. AMC Entertainment shares rose as much as 13% after reports that Amazon was looking to buy the theater chain.
Leonardo Munoz | Corbis news | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.
Yum China – Shares rose over 3% premarket as the Chinese restaurant group announced new financial targets and plans to expand to 20,000 restaurants by 2026 at an investor day.
AMC Entertainment – Shares of the movie theater chain rose 5% in premarket trading after AMC said it had completed its stock offering announced earlier this month. The company said it sold 40 million shares at an average price of $8.14, raising about $325.5 million.
Etsy – Shares of the e-commerce retailer rose 4% premarket after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to an outperform rating from Peer Perform. Wolfe cited three reasons for the upgrade: a recovery in consumer spending, the potential for margin improvement and a greater emphasis on Etsy’s core business.
Semtech – Semiconductor shares rose 1% in early trading despite issuing fiscal third-quarter guidance late Wednesday that called for a loss of 9 cents to 22 cents per share on revenue of $190 million to $210 million. Analysts had estimated the company would earn 12 cents on revenue of $247.7 million in the period. In the second quarter, the company earned an adjusted 11 cents per share, beating analyst expectations of 2 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Penn Entertainment – The sports betting stock rose 3% in premarket trading following a short-term buying call from Deutsche Bank. The bank said there is reason to believe the stock will rise in the future.
First Solar – Shares climbed about 2% after BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares to Outperform from Market Performance, citing a recent selloff that created an attractive entry point for investors.
Exxon Mobil, Chevron – Exxon Mobil and Chevron each rose about 1% before the market opened as oil prices hit their peak this year with Brent crude above $93 a barrel. Occidental Petroleum and Devon also posted early morning gains.
HP – Shares of the printer and PC maker fell more than 3% in premarket trading after a regulatory filing showed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold some of its shares. The conglomerate sold around 5.5 million HP shares worth around $158 million. The Omaha-based giant first bought the tech hardware stock in April 2022, becoming its largest shareholder. Berkshire still owns over $3 billion worth of HP stock.
General Motors, Ford – Shares of the automakers rose slightly in premarket trading after United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Wednesday evening that a strike against the companies was “likely” if a contract agreement was not reached before 11:59 p.m Deadline could be achieved on Thursday (ET). Ford CEO Jim Farley hit back, saying the company had received “no real counteroffer” to its proposals.
— CNBC’s Michelle Fox, Alex Harring, Yun Li, Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound and Pia Singh contributed reporting