Markets re-open today after the public holiday and the futures point to a lower start following a mixed close on Friday.
Today promised to be a fairly busy day on the corporate front and moving the needle before the bell in New York are several stocks.
Notably, in focus is Rite Aid Corp (NYSE:RAD), whose shares added more than 2% after a report stated that Albertsons was going to buy the rest of the drugstore chain that's not already being sold to Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA).
Elsewhere Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that topped Wall Street's expectations, as more shoppers flocked to its stores and bought more.
Revenue came in at US$23.9bn for the three months, compared with the US$23.7bn expected.
Adjusted EPS (earnings per share) was US$1.69 compared to US$1.61 a share.
Home Depot shares added 0.92% to US$186.97 in pre-market deals.
Walmart Inc shares (NYSE:WMT) shares shed 4.09% to US$100.49 after its quarterly earnings fell short of analysts' expectations.
The company's gross margins reportedly took a hit during the three months due to promotional activity and its ongoing war with internet titan Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) to win a larger share of the grocery and apparel industries.
$DPZ Reports Q4 $2.09 v $1.94e, Rev $891.5M v $902Me; raises dividend 20% (Dominos Pizza Inc.) https://t.co/kGD1dbrioW
- SSS Domestic +4.2%
- SSS International +2.5%
— TradeTheNews.com (@Trade_The_News) 20 February 2018
Domino's Pizza Inc (NYSE:DPZ) shares added 1.40% to US$220.74 after the largest pizza group in the world based on global retail sales, announced results, which showed strong growth in same store sales, global store counts and earnings per share (EPS).