Dj Lendingclub Had A Fine Quarter. Why The Stock Is Falling 17%. - Barrons.Com

Financial stocks were edging lower pre-bell Wednesday, with The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund retreating 0.2%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares was 0.6% lower and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares was up 0.8%.

LendingClub shares were down more than 18% pre-bell Wednesday after the company reported late Tuesday lower Q4 net income.

Nasdaq reported higher Q4 adjusted earnings and revenue and maintained its quarterly dividend. The company's shares were down 2.7%.

Chubb shares rose 0.3% pre-bell Wednesday after the company reported late Tuesday Q4 core diluted earnings and net premiums written that beat analysts' estimates.

US equity futures were flat ahead of Wednesday's opening bell as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.1%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.02%.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 0.4% at $76.22 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude down 0.3% at $73.55 per barrel.

US trade in goods deficit, released at 8:30 am ET, widened to $122.11 billion in December from $105.5 billion in the preceding month, compared with estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a $103.5 billion gap.

The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to release a statement at the conclusion of its two-day policy-setting meeting at 2 pm ET. Forecasters expect no action from the Fed this time.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1% higher, while the Hong Kong and Chinese markets were closed for holiday. UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.3%, and Germany's DAX index rose 0.7% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Corning were up 5% pre-bell after the company reported higher Q4 core earnings and net sales. Starbucks stock was 3.2% higher after the company late Tuesday reported fiscal Q1 non-GAAP net income and revenue that beat analysts' estimates.

On the losing side, LendingClub shares were down 18% after the company overnight posted lower Q4 net earnings.

Haoxi Health Technology H shares slumped 23% pre-bell Wednesday, paring Tuesday's rally.

Manhattan Associates shares fell 23%, a day after the company issued 2025 guidance on adjusted earnings and revenue that trailed analysts' estimates.

Treace Medical Concepts shares retreated 22% following a 2.5% drop.

Universal Electronics shares decreased 21% following a muted session.

LendingClub shares were down 21% after the company reported late Tuesday lower Q4 profit.

By Joe Woelfel

Stock futures were mostly higher Wednesday with Wall Street expecting the Federal Reserve to keep its key interest rate unchanged. The central bank's decision on rates will be announced later in the session.

These stocks were poised to make moves Wednesday:

U.S.-listed shares of ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker, rose 7.4% in premarket trading after fourth-quarter bookings surpassed analysts' forecasts. Bookings in the period were EUR7.09 billion ($7.4 billion), down from EUR9.19 billion a year earlier but well above analysts' forecasts of about EUR4 billion. Net profit in the fourth quarter jumped 32% to EUR2.69 billion as sales rose 28% to EUR9.27 billion. "The growth in artificial intelligence is the key driver for growth in our industry," said CEO Christophe Fouquet.

Nvidia was up 0.3% in premarket trading after the leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips closed Tuesday with a gain of 8.9%, and its market cap jumped $255.7 billion. The increase in Nvidia shares clawed back some of Monday's losses of 17%, and a market-cap decline that day of $593 billion (the largest one-day decline for any public company on record), following news that China's DeepSeek had created a cheaper artificial-intelligence model.

Starbucks reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of 69 cents a share, down from 90 cents a year earlier but better than analysts' expectations of 67 cents a share. Shares of the coffee chain were down 0.6% in premarket trading. Starbucks said U.S. and global same-store sales declined 4% in the period, the fourth consecutive quarterly decline. "While we're only one quarter into our turnaround, we're moving quickly to act on the 'Back to Starbucks' efforts and we've seen a positive response," said Chief Executive Brian Niccol.

Earnings reports are expected Wednesday from Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Tesla, ASML Holding, T-Mobile, International Business Machines, ServiceNow, Lam Research, General Dynamics, Norfolk Southern, Danaher, and Corning.

Tesla was down 0.7% in premarket trading. Shares of the electric-vehicle maker rose 0.2% on Tuesday, snapping a losing streak of five consecutive sessions. The company, led by CEO Elon Musk, is expected by analysts after the closing bell Wednesday to report fourth-quarter earnings of 75 cents a share, operating profit of $2.7 billion, and sales of $27.2 billion. A year earlier, Tesla reported earnings of 71 cents a share, operating profit of $2.1 billion, and sales of $25.2 billion.

Microsoft slipped 0.2% in premarket trading. The software giant is scheduled to report fiscal second-quarter earnings after the close of trading Wednesday. Analysts expect Microsoft to report earnings of $3.11 a share on revenue of $68.9 billion, compared with year-earlier profit of $2.93 a share on revenue of $62 billion. The company's massive spending on AI will be a focus for investors, particularly after the DeepSeek developments.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will be posting fourth-quarter earnings after the stock market closes. While the numbers will be closely watched, investors also will want to know CEO Mark Zuckerberg's thoughts on DeepSeek's AI model and whether Meta's aggressive 2025 capital program remains warranted. Shares of Meta rose 0.5% in premarket trading.

F5 Inc. jumped 15% after the multi-cloud software company reported fiscal first-quarter that topped analysts' estimates and said it expects fiscal 2025 revenue to grow 6% to 7%, up from a previous outlook of 4% to 5%. F5 forecast adjusted per-share earnings to increase 6.5% to 8.5%, up from prior guidance of 5% to 7%.

Nextracker, a provider of solar tracker systems and software, surged 19% after raising its fiscal 2025 outlook following fiscal third-quarter earnings that rose to $115.3 million from $41.4 million a year earlier.

LendingClub tumbled 21%. The web-based lending company posted fourth-quarter profit of $9.7 million, or 8 cents a share, down from $10.2 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier. The company's provision for credit losses rose to $63.2 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 51% from a year earlier.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com

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