US stock futures remained weak as investors awaited Disney’s latest quarterly results and producer price index report. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures saw a drop of 0.16%, or 55 points, while S&P 500 futures saw a marginal increase. In contrast, Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 0.1%.
Disney shares plunged more than 5% after releasing its second-quarter results, which showed that higher prices helped reduce losses at its streaming division but hurt subscriber growth. The company also announced that it would take impairment charges of between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion to remove more content from its streaming platforms.
According to Ken Leon, director of equity research at CFRA Research, this indicated a move toward greater efficiency and rebalancing by the company. In essence, the statement suggests that Disney is opting for a balanced approach by not focusing solely on direct streaming and instead aiming to maximize returns that generate free cash flow. Leon added.
Economists expect producer price data, due to be released on Thursday, to have risen 0.3% in April. Following the release of last month’s consumer price index, which is another closely monitored measure of inflation, the Labor Department reported a 4.9% increase, lower than expected.
Additionally, weekly jobless claims numbers will also be released on Thursday.
However, futures trimmed gains as concerns about regional banks flared up again. PacWest Bancorp, which is the latest troubled bank in the spotlight, said in a Q10 filing that deposits fell 9.5% last week, leading to a 22% drop in premarket trading. PacWest added that the bank has immediate liquidity of $15 billion if needed.
Wall Street had a mixed session on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 rising 1% and 0.5%, respectively, while the Dow closed slightly lower.
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