Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Friday, 20th December. Please refresh for updates.
7::55 AM ET: Nike (NYSE:) shares fell 1.2% after the company posted a 32% increase in profit in its fiscal second quarter, thanks to a 20% rise in sales in China and a 5% rise in revenue from North America. The increases were achieved in the face of a sales dispute with Amazon (NASDAQ:) and a major doping scandal at a track and field program sponsored by Nike.
Flat apparel sales in North America were a minor disappointment, while the strength of the Chinese business is to some extent a double-edged sword, illustrating how much it depends on a country that still has unfinished business with the U.S. on trade.
The figures are the last to be presented by CEO Mark Parker, who is stepping down next month to be succeeded by John Donahoe.
- Royal Dutch Shell's ADRs (NYSE:) fell 0.9% after Europe’s oil and gas major warned it may write down up to $2.3 billion in assets in the fourth quarter due to well write-offs, decommissioning costs and other factors.
In a trading update, the company also indicated gas output would be lower than forecast for the current quarter, but oil production would be around 2.8 million barrels a day, at the top end of its guided range.
Shell (LON:) said that chemicals and gasoline marketing margins would be weaker due to seasonality and crude price fluctuations.
The company added that capital expenditure for the full year will be at the bottom end of the guided range of $24-$29 billion.
- 8 AM ET: CarMax (NYSE:) stock fell 5.6% after the used car dealership network reported earnings per share 10% below market consensus at $1.04.
- That was despite a modest beat on revenue in the three months through November, which came in at $4.79 billion, rather than the $4.65 billion expected.
- CEO Bill Nash put the drop in earnings down “a significantly higher stock-based compensation expense reflecting an increasing share price during the quarter and a planned increase in third quarter advertising expense related to the company’s omni-channel rollout and the launch of a new national advertising campaign.”