As Wall Street traders brace for a mixed start and earnings season starts to swing, among the stocks in focus in pre-market deals is legendary investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK).
Its shares are up nearly 2% in pre-market to US$194.20 on the back of news that the group had got rid of a buy-back restriction.
The restriction was on its ability to buy back its own stock, so it could mean Buffett's firm could help gather more cash via this method to be deployed elsewhere.
The company could decide to buy back shares when they deem that the price is below the stock's intrinsic value, on a conservative basis.
Meanwhile, United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) was top riser in pre-market deals, flying 4.31% higher at US$72.62.
It came as its adjusted eanings figure for the second quarter came in at US$889mln, or US$3.23 per share.
Analysts had expected the company to earn $3.06 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters.
To the big banks and the theme of the week, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) shares rose 2.91% to US$50.61 on Wednesday pre-market after the investment giant crushed expectations on trading and its investment arm results exceeded analysts' expectations.
Profit in the three months surged 39% to US$2.44bn, as revenue also topped estimates.
Morgan Stanley continues to show it may be new king of Wall St. Beat on earnings. Boosts dividend & sets new buyback. $MS up 4% #premarket.
— Paul R. La Monica (@LaMonicaBuzz) 18 July 2018
Elsewhere, Texas Instruments Inc (NASDAQ:TXN) shares shed 0.66% to US$155.03 as it emerged Brian Crutcher had resigned as chief executive just six weeks into the role following a report that he had violated the chipmaker’s code on personal behavior.
Last but not least, uranium focused group Energy Fuels Inc (NYSE:UUUU) is up over 16% to US$2.68 in pre-market deals after it outlined yesterday a response to a recently released paper by the NorthBridge Group about the market impact of proposed US uranium import quotas on the US nuclear power industry.