By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Tuesday, 21st April. Please refresh for updates.
- IBM (NYSE:IBM) stock fell 5.1% to its lowest in over two weeks after the company returned to its old pattern of shrinking revenue in the first quarter.
- The company is facing a sharp drop in business investment due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) stock fell 0.6% after the drinks maker said sales volumes had fallen 25% since the start of April, leading it to predict a “material” hit to this quarter’s numbers.
- Coke said the full extent of the damage will depend on how long ‘shelter-in-place’ orders are in force in the U.S., “as well as the substance and pace of the economic recovery.”
- Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) stock outperformed, rising 1.8% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings on the back of a strong performance from its aeronautics division, which makes the F-35 fighter plane.
- Lockheed also reaffirmed its 2020 earnings per share forecast of $23.80 - the mid point of its existing range. However, it lowered its 2020 sales outlook due to coronavirus-led supply chain delays. Lockheed now expects full-year sales in a range of $62.25 billion to $64.00 billion, down from $62.75 billion to $64.25 billion.
- The Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) stock fell 3.7% after the insurance giant missed on first-quarter earnings, due in part to some $86 million in claims related to Covid-19.
- Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) stock was down 2.0% after the maker of yoga and athleisure wear drew criticism from China for one of its art directors promoting a t-shirt with motif ‘bat-fried rice’ - an apparent dig at the wet market of Wuhan where the Covid-19 virus is believed to have originated.
- Lululemon issued an apology and has fired the designer in question.
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Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) stock rose 10.2% after the company said it will start offering its products through Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) stores in China
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Appetite for plant-based alternatives to meat may get a long-term boost from the negative publicity surrounding China’s general phytosanitary regime in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
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Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) stock fell 5.5% despite beating expectations for first-quarter sales by a wide margin. The company warned that the Covid-19 pandemic had badly hit duty-free sales, and raised the cost of getting customers onto its new IQOS product.
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At the same time, it said, unemployment was likely to depress disposable income in the short term, while lockdown measures would keep a large number of small retailers closed.
- Equifax (NYSE:EFX) stock was up 3.3% after the credit scorer reported its best quarter since a major data breach in 2017.