AT&T (T, Financial) has publicly taken responsibility for the significant cellular service outage that occurred on Thursday, attributing the disruption to a flawed update process rather than a cyberattack. The outage, which affected users from Canada to Florida, was reflected in a 2.4% drop in AT&T's stock price, while Verizon (VZ) and T-Mobile (TMUS) also experienced a decline, albeit less pronounced. AT&T, the largest cellular carrier in the U.S., is continuing its investigation to prevent future service disruptions.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD, Financial) faced a challenging pre-market session with its Class A shares falling nearly 9% after reporting a 7% year-over-year decline in Q4 2023 revenue, missing consensus estimates. The media conglomerate's financials were impacted by strikes in Hollywood, leading to delays in major titles and a 12% year-over-year decline in advertising revenue for its networks segment. The company's streaming services also saw a decrease in subscribers, contributing to the overall downturn.
Rivian Automotive (RIVN, Financial) entered Friday's trading with a significant downgrade from UBS, shifting from Buy to Sell, and a drastic price target cut to $8, which is 30% below Thursday's closing price. This follows a disappointing Q4 report and 2024 guidance, leading to a 25.6% loss on Thursday and an additional 3% drop in premarket trade. UBS cited a challenging EV market and questioned Rivian's strategy in light of the current demand and capital market conditions for EVs.
Investors showed a net selling trend in fund assets for the second week in three, withdrawing a total of $11.6 billion. Money market funds experienced the largest outflows at $9.6 billion, followed by equity funds at $3.5 billion. Conversely, fixed income funds attracted the most new money at $2.6 billion. Notably, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV, Financial) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM, Financial) were among the equity-based exchange-traded funds that garnered the most capital, with inflows of $2.3 billion and $819 million, respectively.
Stock futures indicated a pause after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite's robust performance earlier in the week. Notable movers included Block (SQ, Financial), which surged over 13% following its Q4 results, and Carvana (CVNA, Financial), which jumped 29% after reporting its first-ever profit and a positive outlook for Q1. Meanwhile, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI, Financial) shares plummeted 38% after a disappointing earnings report and a downgrade from B. Riley.
Pfizer (PFE, Financial) saw a slight uptick in premarket trading as Guggenheim initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $36 price target. The firm believes the market is undervaluing Pfizer's non-COVID portfolio, despite the recent decline in demand for its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment products.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI, Financial) announced the pricing of $1.5 billion in convertible senior notes due 2029, with an initial conversion rate of 0.7455 shares per $1,000 principal amount. The company plans to use a portion of the proceeds to fund capped call transactions and expects net proceeds of approximately $1.47 billion from the offering.
Vale (VALE, Financial) reported a 35% year-over-year increase in Q4 adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, reaching $6.7 billion, driven by improved operational performance and strong iron ore prices. However, net income from continuing operations dropped 35% to $2.42 billion, partly due to provisions related to the 2015 Samarco tailings dam disaster. The company also announced a shareholder payout of approximately $0.55 per share.
