Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
Index futures as of 7:50 a.m. EST suggest a flat start for the stock market today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.56%) set to lose 13 points at the opening bell. Still, stocks remain near all-time highs and are on pace to close their best year since 2003.
With that bigger picture in mind, here are a few individual stock stories to watch for in today's market.
Dish Network (DISH) this morning reported third-quarter revenue of $3.6 billion -- a 4% improvement over last year's results. Profit rose to $0.68 a share as pay-TV subscriber numbers held steady at 14 million. As we've seen with cable operators, Dish's members are paying more per month: Dish's average monthly revenue climbed to $81 per user as content costs crept higher, up from $77 per month last year. The company also benefited from an impressive 24% jump in its broadband subscriber base, to 385,000. Dish's stock is up 3.2% in premarket trading.
Rackspace (RAX) shares are tumbling this morning in the wake of its earnings release last night. Third-quarter revenue for the cloud company was $389 million, up a healthy 16%. However, Rackspace had to sacrifice some profitability to get that top-line growth. Net income fell by 40% as the company's operating expenses grew to about 88% of revenue amid cutthroat competition from rivals like Amazon.com and Google. Rackspace's stock is down 9.3% in premarket trading.
Finally, Hologic (HOLX 0.37%) shares are falling after the company last night announced a $1.1 billion goodwill impairment charge as part of its fiscal fourth-quarter results, which led to a loss of $4.11 a share. Sales ticked higher by 6% for the medical device producer to reach $622 million, below analysts' expectations of $642 million. Looking ahead, CEO Jack Cumming said that the company expects next year to be a "transitional" one, and Hologic's guidance calls for a 1%-3% dip in total sales. The stock is down 13.2% in premarket trading.
