After a rally Wednesday, stock futures were pointing lower Thursday morning, as bearish signals on U.S.-China trade, fresh Fed data, and a packed slate of earnings collide.
The Dow is leading the move down, with S&P futures slightly off and the Nasdaq hovering near flat. Gold is climbing again while volatility remains elevated. With Google (GOOGL) earnings after the bell and results already in from Procter & Gamble (PG), Merck (MRK), PepsiCo (PEP), and others, the mood is cautious as investors look for bright spots in a jittery market.
Here are stocks likely to grab the spotlight today.
Procter & Gamble edged past earnings expectations Thursday morning, but the consumer giant offered a revealing read on household habits. CEO Jon Moeller told investors that U.S. consumers are pulling back on laundry — doing fewer loads — amid higher prices and growing economic pressure.
Tariff concerns also loomed over the call, with Moeller citing uncertainty around potential cost increases as a key risk to margins moving forward. Shares slipped about 1% before the bell.
PepsiCo topped expectations for the first quarter, boosted by resilient demand and higher prices across its beverage and snack divisions. The company reported 2.7% organic revenue growth and reaffirmed its full-year forecast, easing investor concerns about a potential consumer slowdown. Executives said demand remained solid despite macroeconomic headwinds, and shares rose modestly in premarket trading.
Merck reported a 7% rise in first-quarter adjusted profit, reaching $2.22 per share and surpassing analyst expectations. This gain came despite a 2% decline in overall revenue to $15.5 billion, attributed to a temporary halt in Gardasil vaccine shipments to China due to reduced demand. While Gardasil sales dropped 41% to $1.3 billion, they met analyst projections. Sales of Keytruda, Merck’s cancer therapy, increased by 4% to $7.2 billion, slightly below expectations.
For 2025, Merck reaffirmed its sales forecast of $64.1 billion to $65.6 billion but slightly lowered its adjusted earnings per share estimate, citing $200 million in additional tariff costs and a charge related to a licensing deal. These costs reflect ongoing U.S. tariffs and reciprocal measures from foreign governments, particularly China.
Merck shares rose 0.8% before the bell.
After the bell, Google parent Alphabet will headline tech earnings, with investors zeroing in on cloud growth, AI monetization, and antitrust fallout.
After rising around 2.5% on Wednesday, shares looked set to open flat on Thursday.
Options traders are bracing for more turbulence. According to Citigroup (C) (C+3.39%) strategists, markets are pricing in daily moves of 1% or more in the S&P 500 through at least May 23, with even sharper swings expected around key economic events. A 1.8% move is anticipated for the April jobs report, and a 1.7% swing is priced in for Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s next post-meeting news conference — a sign that volatility may be here to stay.
On Wednesday, President Trump said he believes a millionaire tax would be “disruptive.” Still, when policy whiplash erodes stock market value, it’s the wealthiest who absorb most of the immediate losses — just without any of the redistribution.
The post Google, Merck, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble: Stocks to watch today appeared first on Quartz.
