U.S. stock futures this morning pointed to a lower opening, as investors remain focused on the upcoming nonfarm payrolls report on Friday. But three tech stocks were seeing gains before the opening bell: GOOGL, CRM and JD.
1. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, saw gains in pre-market trading on news that it was not pursuing a takeover bid for Twitter (TWTR).
Sources close to the matter said the search giant was not planning to move forward with a takeover bid at this time.
While the news sent Alphabet’s stock higher, it had the opposite effect on Twitter shares, sending the stock plunging 19% just after the opening bell.
2. Salesforce (CRM)
Shares for Salesforce were up over 4% mid-morning after comments from CEO Marc Benioff indicated that the company may not be considering buying Twitter after all.
Speaking to Jim Cramer, Benioff called Twitter a “great product,” but noted that the business had “very severe challenges.” The CEO said he can only do one thing, and that was to wish his friend Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, well.
Salesforce shares dropped earlier in the week after reports surfaced that the company was considering purchasing the ailing social media network.
3. JD.com Inc (JD)
Shares for JD were higher before the opening bell on news that Walmart (WMT) boosted its stake in the company. Walmart’s move came as part of an effort to expand its foothold in China.
JD.com is the second-largest online retailer in China.
Earlier in the year, Walmart agreed to sell its website Yihaodian in exchange for a 5% stake in the company. A regulatory filing on Wednesday revealed that Walmart had boosted its stake in JD, and now holds 10.8% of shares which don’t have extra voting power.
The move from Walmart indicates that the company is looking to navigate the Chinese e-commerce market by investing in a major local player instead of expanding its online shopping platform.
