Meta Platforms, Comcast, Best Buy Fall Premarket; Ford, Etsy Rise

By Peter Nurse

Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Thursday, July 28th. Please refresh for updates.

• Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) stock fell 4% after the Facebook-owner issued a gloomy forecast after recording its first ever quarterly drop in revenue, with recession fears and competitive pressures weighing on its digital ads sales.

• Ford (NYSE:F) stock rose 6.8% after the auto giant reported better than expected second quarter net income, reaffirmed its profit outlook for the year, and said it would restore its dividend to the pre-pandemic level.

• Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) stock fell 5.5% after the media giant failed to add broadband customers in a quarter for the first time ever.

• Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) stock rose 8% after the e-commerce company beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines despite a weaker consumer weighing on user engagement.

• Altria (NYSE:MO) stock fell 0.5% after the cigarette manufacturer cut the value of its stake in Juul Labs by over 70% as the e-cigarette maker comes under intense regulatory scrutiny.

• Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) stock fell 3.6% after the chipmaker forecast disappointing fourth quarter revenue, bracing for a slowdown in smartphone demand that could hurt its mainstay handset chip business.

• Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) stock rose 4.9% after JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU), up 2.1%, reached a deal to buy the discount carrier, just hours after it ended its merger agreement with Frontier Group (NASDAQ:ULCC), down 0.6%.

• Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) stock rose 0.9% after the drugmaker reported a 78% jump in profit and reaffirmed the combined 2022 sales forecast of $54 billion for its COVID-19 vaccine and pill.

• Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) stock fell 3.7% after the retailer forecasted a bigger drop in annual sales than previously estimated as consumers curb discretionary spending given decades-high inflation.

• Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) stock rose 3.9% after the refiner reported a rise in second quarter profit, boosted by higher demand for fuel and refined products.

• Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) stock fell 5.8% after the carrier warned of capacity constraints for the rest of the year despite predicting that its third quarter revenue will exceed pre-pandemic levels.

• The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) stock rose 0.9% after the chocolate giant raised its annual adjusted profit and sales growth forecast, expecting to benefit from price hikes for its products.