Pranav Kashyap
5 min read
Investing.com – U.S. stock futures edged lower on Friday after a selloff in technology shares in the previous session, as investors weighed concerns about financing for artificial intelligence infrastructure, elevated oil prices and turmoil in French bond markets.
Here are some of the biggest premarket U.S. stock movers today:
By 07:15 ET (11:15 GMT), S&P 500 futures had fallen 18 points, or 0.2%, Nasdaq 100 futures had slipped 29 points, or 0.1%, and Dow futures had declined 315 points, or 0.6%.
Western Digital shares fell more than 4.5% in premarket trading despite the data-storage maker reporting better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results and issuing an upbeat forecast for the current quarter. The stock initially gained about 4% following the results before reversing lower after the earnings call, as investors remained concerned about the capital required to finance the AI infrastructure buildout.
Western Digital said its blended average selling price per terabyte of storage rose 28% during the quarter, reflecting strong demand and tight supply. The company expects capital expenditure to average 4%-6% of revenue over the next five years, with the ratio running modestly higher over the next two years. It also expects to reduce its cost per terabyte by about 10% year over year in the near term, despite rising input costs.
American Tower gained 3.3% after a Bloomberg report said SpaceX was in active discussions to secure access to around 80,000 U.S. cell sites as part of a nationwide wireless network buildout. The potential agreements could generate substantial leasing revenue for tower operators, including American Tower, which operates roughly 41,764 sites across the U.S. and Canada. The company is scheduled to report third-quarter results on October 27, with analysts expecting earnings per share of $2.84 and revenue of approximately $2.77 billion.
Crown Castle surged 7.5% after the same report identified the tower operator as one of the companies in direct discussions with SpaceX over access to cell sites. The potential deals could be worth billions of dollars and provide a significant new revenue opportunity. CEO Chris Hillabrant had also confirmed during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on October 21 that Crown Castle was in discussions with major parties when asked about satellite operators.
