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.
Stocks look set to rise this morning. Index futures as of 7:45 a.m. EST point to a solidly higher start for the stock market, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.31%) pegged to gain 55 points at the opening bell.
Almost all of the results are in for this quarter's earnings season, which brought a lot of good news to investors. Three-quarters of the S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far have beaten profit estimates, according to Bloomberg.
With that bigger trend in mind, here are a few individual stocks to watch in today's market.
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF -0.21%) shares are on the move this morning after the retailer reported disappointing third-quarter results and projected more of the same for the holiday quarter. Total revenue fell by 12%, with comparable store sales plunging by 14% in the U.S. and by 15% overseas. Abercrombie expects sales to fall at a similar pace next quarter as young consumers continue to spend cautiously. The company also warned that profitability will contract further next quarter as it plans to discount heavily in order to clear excess inventory. The stock is down 6.6% in premarket trading.
Time Warner (TWX) this morning booked a 20% rise in per-share earnings on revenue that was flat with the year-ago period. The company's network business improved, driven higher by broad success across the portfolio. TBS, TNT, and CNN each attracted higher ratings and ad revenue, while HBO pulled in more subscription revenue following a banner year at the Emmy Awards. Still, Time Warner's film business shrank by 7%, as it was unable to match the strong results of last year's release of The Dark Knight Rises. The stock is up 1.7% in premarket trading.
Finally, Caesarstone (CSTE -3.31%) this morning reported a 21.6% boost in revenue for its third quarter. Profit came in at $0.46 a share, a tad shy of the $0.49 that analysts were expecting. The Israel-based producer of engineered quartz surfaces is seeing strong growth in the United States, where its products compete with popular granite installations in homes and businesses. Thanks in part to this quarter's 47.8% revenue boost in the U.S., Caesarstone raised its sales outlook for the full year to about $345 million. The stock is unchanged in premarket trading.
