Stock Futures Hold Lower as Housing Starts Climb

Stock futures are slightly lower on Tuesday as key earnings from the likes of Netflix disappoint investors, while housing starts edge forward.
By Keris Alison Lahiff ,

Stock futures were slightly lower on Tuesday as key earnings from the likes of Netflix (NFLX) - Get Report disappointed investors, while U.S. housing starts edged forward. 

S&P 500 futures were down 0.24%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, and Nasdaq futures slid 0.24%.

Wall Street was on track to pull below records set on Monday. The S&P 500 and Dow rose to new records with only slight effort as a rally in tech helped to offset weakness in oil and political uncertainty in Turkey. The Dow eked out a new closing high of 18,533.05, mere points above its previous Friday record, while the S&P 500 scored a new high of 2,166.89.

Housing starts in June climbed, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday, driven by a high level of demand and tight inventory. Starts for newly constructed homes rose 4.8% last month to an adjusted annual pace of 1.19 million. Economists had expected a pace of 1.17 million. May's numbers were revised down to 1.14 million from 1.16 million. Housing permits increased 1.5% to 1.15 million.

Netflix fell sharply in premarket trading after falling short of analysts' estimates for subscriber numbers, a closely watched metric. The streaming service added 1.7 million international subscribers in its recent quarter, below its own forecast of 2.5 million. Earnings came in above estimates, though. Netflix earned 9 cents a share, three times consensus. 

Yahoo! (YHOO) also reported a disappointing quarter. The Internet company reported its second-quarter loss widened to $440 million, while adjusted revenue, which excluded commissions paid for Web traffic, tumbled nearly 20%. Yahoo! made no mention of the possible sale of its core businesses, though Monday marked the final day for offers. 

In other earnings news, IBM (IBM) - Get Report climbed after beating expectations in its second quarter. The tech giant earned an adjusted $2.95 a share, 6 cents more than forecast, while revenue fell 2.8% to $20.24 billion. The company is still struggling with growth, reporting its 17th straight quarter of declining sales. 

Goldman Sachs (GS) - Get Report was slightly lower despite a better-than-expected second quarter. The financial institution earned $3.72 a share over the quarter compared to an expected $3.04. Revenue of $7.93 billion was 12% lower than a year earlier, though exceeded estimates of $7.48 billion.

VMware (VMW) - Get Report also reported a better-than-expected second quarter. The cloud-software developer earned an adjusted 97 cents a share, 2 cents higher than expected, while revenue of $1.69 billion exceeded estimates of $1.68 billion. 

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Get Report rose in premarket trading after topping estimates in its second quarter and raising its full-year forecasts. The pharmaceutical giant earned an adjusted $1.74 a share, 6 cents above analysts' estimates, while revenue climbed nearly 4% to $18.48 billion. Its 2016 earnings guidance was increased to $6.63 to $6.73 a share from $6.53 to $6.68 billion. 

Aerospace and military manufacturer Lockheed Martin (LMT) - Get Report exceeded estimates on its top- and bottom-lines. The company earned $3.32 a share, well above expectations of $2.94 a share. Revenue of $12.9 billion beat by $300 million. 

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Unitedhealth (UNH) - Get Report shares were on watch after the health company raised the low-end of its previous earnings guidance for the full year thanks to a solid June quarter. The company increased its low-end earnings target by a nickel to $7.80 a share. Optum, its services unit, propelled earnings and revenue higher over its quarter, contributing around 44% to overall sales.  

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