US stocks are set to go higher at the bell, and joining them in pre-market is retail giant Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), whose shares are surging over 9% in New York.
It comes as the chain retailer reported quarterly earnings and sales that beat analysts' expectations, as it attracted more customers and e-commerce sales went higher.
Walmart saw strongest same-store sales growth in more than a decade, it emerged, as shares surged 9.5% to stand at US$98.66.
Earnings for the three months was US$1.29 per share against US$1.22, which was expected. That was on revenue of US$128.03bn against the analyst consensus of US$125.97bn.
Same-store sales growth in the USA was up 4.5% versus 2.4% expected.
Walmart says it expects sales and profit to rise more than previously expected during the current fiscal year https://t.co/0cFvsd074z
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 16, 2018
Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com (NASDAQ:JD), which is part-owned by Walmart, had its shares drop 2% in pre-market deals to US$31.70 as it posted second-quarter revenue, which surged over 31% but still missed analyst estimates.
The group is also part-owned by Chinese technology giant Tencent (HKG:0700).
It saw revenue increase to 122.3bn yuan (US$17.73bn) for the three months to end June.
But that was just below a consensus estimate of 122.7 billion yuan.
In other pre-market retail news, Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) added 0.8% to US$76.98 after news that it was buying elderly healthcare provider GreatCall from private equity group GTCR for US$800mln in cash. The electronics retailer has been homing in on health-related assets focused on an aging U.S. population.
Lastly, software company Symantec Corp (NASDAQ:SYMC) shares surged 5.2% before the bell.
It comes as hedge fund Starboard Value LP has taken a 5.8% stake in Symantec and nominated five directors to its board.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Starboard was "seeking operational changes" to improve margins, especially in its business-facing segment.