Premarket trading on Thursday saw sharp moves across semiconductors, memory and consumer stocks as investors digested earnings results, forward guidance and deal news. Micron shares surged after results topped expectations, while Qualcomm climbed on an improved outlook for data center revenue. In contrast, Darden Restaurants and Trip.com fell as guidance missed and revenue/earnings underperformed.
Key takeaways
- Price move: Micron jumped 18.5% and Qualcomm rose 11% after company-specific catalysts; Trip.com slid 12% and Darden Restaurants fell 3.4% on weaker outlooks.
- Catalyst: Stronger-than-expected quarterly results and upward revisions to multi-year revenue targets drove the biggest semiconductor gains.
- Implication: Investors appeared to reward improved demand visibility in chips and data center infrastructure, while penalizing softer guidance in restaurants and travel.
- Deal and corporate actions: Bio-Techne rallied 20% after agreeing to be acquired by Merck, and Dollar Tree moved lower after shareholder activity and an announced repurchase.
Semiconductors lead as earnings and outlook beat expectations
Micron Technology was the standout gainer, rising 18.5% following its third-quarter report. According to the company’s results, adjusted earnings came in at $25.11 per share, exceeding the $20.78 expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue reportedly quadrupled to $41.46 billion, versus $9.3 billion a year earlier, and topped the expected $35.85 billion.
Shares in memory-related companies also moved higher, reflecting a broader read-through from Micron’s results. Sandisk rose 15.6% and Western Digital gained 13%, while Lam Research added 6%.
Qualcomm also advanced, jumping 11% after the company nearly doubled its projection for 2029 non-handset revenue to $40 billion, compared with a prior forecast of $22 billion. According to the company, it is also targeting $15 billion in data center sales for 2029, a move that aligned investor focus on enterprise compute and infrastructure spending.
Next-gen chip claims and deal news support select equities
IBM gained 3% as the company announced what it described as the first technology capable of making chips smaller than one nanometer. The company said the approach would deliver a substantial capability leap intended to support compute-intensive applications, including generative artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.
Bio-Techne surged 20% after reaching an agreement to be acquired by Merck for $73 per share. Deal-driven momentum typically attracts both arbitrage and value-focused interest when the offer terms are viewed as credible relative to expected operating performance.
Consumer stocks diverge on sentiment, earnings and guidance
In fast food, Wendy’s shares rose 13%. The move follows more than a 25% rally from the prior session, with the stock up nearly 32% for the week, according to the premarket read. The extension of gains suggests retail interest remained a key driver heading into upcoming fundamental catalysts.
Darden Restaurants fell 3.4% after its fiscal fourth-quarter results came in mixed and guidance looked weak. The report said adjusted earnings beat expectations, but revenue missed. The company’s full-year EPS guidance of $11.10 to $11.35 reportedly fell short of FactSet consensus of $11.39 per share, and its sales forecast of $13.60 billion to $13.75 billion was also slightly below the FactSet consensus of $13.71 billion.
Trip.com declined 12% after its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue missed expectations, according to the premarket summary. The sharp drop underscores how sensitive travel-related names can be to forward-looking demand signals and near-term profitability metrics.
Corporate actions and smaller earnings reports move the rest of the tape
Dollar Tree dropped 3.6% after it said a major shareholder is selling shares in a block trade to JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. The company also stated it will repurchase $500 million of stock from Goldman after the transaction completes. Investors typically weigh the offsetting effect of buybacks against perceived supply from large shareholder sales.
McCormick gained 3% after reporting second-quarter results that beat expectations. According to the company, adjusted earnings were 80 cents per share, above the 69 cents expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue reportedly came in at $1.94 billion, slightly ahead of the $1.91 billion consensus estimate.
Looking ahead, investors will likely focus on whether semiconductor strength translates into broader industrial demand and how companies guide for the coming quarters. With several results already driving this session’s moves, attention should also turn to next waves of earnings and any updates tied to the outlook for AI infrastructure, data center spending, and consumer spending trends.
