Stock futures wobble as company earnings roll in

U.S. stock futures hinted at another choppy session Thursday as third-quarter financial results from companies continued to barrel in against a backdrop of persisting growth concerns on Wall Street.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1%, while futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added 110 points, or 0.4%. Contracts on the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped 0.1% below the flatline. Meanwhile, Treasury yields held at multi-year highs, with the rate-sensitive 2-year note topping 4.6% for the first time since 2007.

AT&T Inc. (T) and American Airlines (AAL) were the latest corporate names to unveil third-quarter results that came in better than analysts expected.

Telecommunications giant AT&T on Thursday rolled out figures that beat sales and earnings forecasts and raised its profit guidance, also revealing 964,000 new subscribers and asserting its confidence to deliver on previously estimated cash flow for the rest of the year. Shares gained 2.5% in the early trade.

And American Airlines Group said Thursday that travel demand remains robust despite higher airfares as it raised its profit forecast for the current quarter. The stock jumped 3% ahead of the open, further boosting what’s been a strong week for airline stocks as financials show the industry has bounced back from the pandemic.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) sank roughly 6% in early trading after the electric-vehicle maker posted results late Tuesday that disappointed Wall Street, beating on earnings per share estimate but falling short on quarterly revenue expectations.

The company reiterated its previous guidance of a 50% average annual growth rate on vehicle deliveries for the year, even as it admitted to headwinds from increased costs on raw materials and inefficiencies at its Gigafactory Berlin.

“I can’t emphasize enough that we have excellent demand for Q4 and we expect to sell every car that we make for as far into the future as we can see,” Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said, adding: “North America’s in pretty good health, although the Fed is raising interest rates more than they should, but I think they’ll eventually realize that and bring them down again.”

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Wednesday that he expects policymakers to halt the‘’front-loading” of hefty interest-rate increases by early next year and move to smaller moves as needed until inflation abates.

The Fed’s Beige Book, a publication of economic assessments across the U.S. central bank’s 12 districts, showed businesses have largely remained resilient amid the macroeconomic stage of higher rates and policy tightening thanks to solid pricing power. But some expressed struggles with pushback from consumers over increased prices and inflation that continued to drive up wages.

Corporate earnings have so far reflected resilience, but Wall Street strategists have largely cautioned that earnings-per-share forecasts will continue to come down.

“We’re becoming skeptical this quarter will bring enough earnings capitulation from companies on next year’s numbers for the final price lows of this bear market to happen now,” Morgan Stanley’s top equity strategist Mike Wilson said earlier this week in a podcast. “The final price lows for this bear are likely to be closer to 3000-3200 when companies capitulate and guide 2023 forecasts lower during the fourth quarter earnings season that’s in January and February.”

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Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc

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