Stock Futures Higher After JPMorgan Beats. Stocks to Watch: AMD, AAPL, BAC, BZH, JBHT, JPM, WFC, WY

Published on Friday, 12 October 2012 07:21 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, October 12^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a higher open amid mixed overseas action after solid earnings from banking giant JPMorgan, which kick off earnings season for the big financial firms.

In Asia, stocks closed mixed as ongoing concerns over weak corporate resulting from the sluggishness in the global economy weighed on sentiment, limiting the appeal of risk assets. In Japan, the Nikkei slipped to its lowest close in more than 2 months, while in China the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.1% ahead of trade and inflation data due out on Saturday and Monday, respectively.

In Europe, markets were trading to the downside as concerns over the outlook for the euro zone economy were weighing on sentiment. Industrial production in the euro zone exceeded expectations, but the data saw a muted response, as Spain continues to hold up on asking for a bailout. On separate news, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its long-term role in uniting the country. Go figure, the events in the last year has probably being the most divided between the periphery and the northern region of the zone.

The euro was adding against the Dollar, trading below the $1.30 level. Crude oil was gaining 0.02% to $92.09 per barrel. Also in the energy complex, natural gas was losing 0.55% to $3.584 per MMBtu. Gold was sliding 0.03% $1768.30 an ounce, and silver was dropping 0.52% to $33.905 an ounce; meanwhile copper was retreating 0.76%.

On economic news, at 8:30 am the Labor Department will release its Producer Price Index for September. At 9:55 am, the preliminary reading on the October University of Michigan will be released. At 2 pm, September Treasury figures will be available.

Today’s Stocks to watch: Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), J.B. Hunt Transports (NASDAQ: JBHT), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), and Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY).

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), the world’s second largest chipmaker, was slumping more than 8% in pre-market, trading below its 52-week low of $3.09, following lower revenue and gross margin guidance. The chipmaker issued downside guidance for fiscal third quarter, saying it sees revenue dropping 10% from the prior quarter and gross margin coming about 31%, down from the previous expectation of 44%. Advanced Micro cited weaker than expected demand across all product lines caused by the challenging macroeconomic environment. The company is scheduled to report its quarterly results on October 18^th after the market close.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was climbing 0.35% to $630.30 in pre-market, as the stock attempts to rebound from its 2% slump in the prior session. Apple fell following reports that a Federal Appeals Court reversed an injunction that barred rival Samsung from selling its Galaxy Nexus smarthphone. Apple has been in correction mode, increasing the gap between current price action and its 50day moving average, a level the stock broke late last week. The ongoing chatter regarding iPhone 5 production issues at Foxconn continued to shackle the stock, impacting sentiment over potential upside in iPhone shipments in the third and fourth quarters.

Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), builder of entry-level and first move-up homes, fell more than 1% in after hours following the announcement of a one for five reverse stock split of its common stock that will be effective today.

J.B. Hunt Transports (NASDAQ: JBHT), the provider of transportation and logistics services in North America, will be in focus after jumping 5.7% in the after hours session. The company reported quarterly results that showed earnings that missed expectations on revenue that topped consensus. JB Hunt earned $0.65 per share, $0.01 worse than consensus, on revenue that climbed 10.7% from a year ago to $1.3 billion versus consensus of $1.28 billion.

JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) was climbing 1.83% to $42.87 in pre-market on early reaction to its quarterly results. The lender posted earnings of $1.40 per share versus consensus of $1.21 on revenue of $25.15 billion versus consensus of $24.27 billion. JPMorgan said that it believes the housing market has turned the corner. In the Mortgage Banking business, the credit trends continued to modestly improve, and, as a result, the bank reduced the related loan loss reserves by $900 million. Rival Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was gaining 1.7% to $9.50 after fellow Dow component’s results was able to top expectations.

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), the San Francisco based diversified financial services Company, will be in focus as the company reports its quarterly results later this morning and amid response to JPMorgan comments that the housing market has turned the corner. On average analysts expect profit of $0.87 per share on revenue of $21.47 billion.

Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), the forest products company, will be in focus after the company announced that its board of directors boosted its dividend by 13% to $0.17 per share from $0.15 per share.