The stock market had a tough day on Thursday, and market participants seemed to want to find some level ground amid the persistent volatility they've experienced in recent months. As of 8:15 a.m. ET, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.50%) were down 84 points to 34,887. However, S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.83%) futures were up 8 points to 4,477, and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC +1.38%) futures had picked up 125 points to 14,617.
Investors continued to scrutinize the latest financial reports from some top companies. Social media icon Snap (SNAP 0.68%) managed to post a huge gain as it avoided the stigma that rival Meta Platforms had suffered the day before. However, Ford Motor Company (F +0.04%) wasn't as fortunate, as the automaker continues to face operational challenges that are limiting its ability to take advantage of high demand.
Snap gets a big bounce
Shares of Snap rebounded strongly from big losses on Thursday. After declining 24% due to concerns about Meta's performance, the Snapchat parent's stock soared more than 40% in premarket trading on Friday morning.
The catalyst for the gains was Snap's fourth-quarter financial report, in which it dispelled many of the concerns that Meta's report had raised about the social media industry generally. Quarterly revenue jumped 42% year over year, and Snap posted its first quarter of positive net income since becoming a publicly traded company. For the full year, Snap's 2021 revenue was up 64% from 2020 levels, and the company cut its loss nearly in half while producing positive free cash flow for the first time.
Key user metrics were also higher at Snap. Daily active users jumped by 54 million, or 20%, to 319 million at the end of the fourth quarter. That marked the fifth consecutive quarter that Snap's user count rose at least 20% year over year. Snap saw increased interest in all three of its geographical segments.
Looking ahead, Snap remains optimistic about its prospects. Revenue projections for $1.03 billion to $1.08 billion and adjusted pre-tax operating profits predicted to break even came as good news for shareholders. Given the concerns Meta had raised, Snap shareholders were happy to breathe a sigh of relief.
Image source: Getty Images.
Supply chain issues hold back Ford
Elsewhere, shares of Ford Motor Company were down more than 6% in premarket trading. The automaker's fourth-quarter financials didn't live up to the high expectations of its shareholders.
Ford's key metrics were mixed. Revenue rose 5% to $37.7 billion, and net income moved from a year-ago loss to a profit of $12.3 billion. However, on an adjusted basis, earnings of $0.26 per share were down by nearly 25% from year-earlier levels. Wholesale units fell a steep 11% to 1.104 million, finishing 2021 with a 6% drop year over year.
Geographically, Ford's results revealed some of the impacts that supply chain issues raised. North American market share rose 2.2 percentage points to 14.3%, showing strength in Ford's home market. However, market share plunged in South America and also fell sharply in Europe, with the automaker citing semiconductor shortages that produced a quarterly loss in the European market.
Looking ahead, investors are waiting anxiously to see how the launch of the electric F-150 Lightning goes. With so much of the stock's gains hinging on how well Ford is able to catch up on the EV front, all eyes will be on making sure that the company can overcome any lingering supply chain issues and get its electric trucks out the door and into the hands of waiting customers.
