U.S. premarket stocks rise on earnings beats from McDonald’s, Caterpillar and Palantir

Traders Union
All News
Financial News
Premarket stocks rise on earnings

Highlights

McDonald’s rises 1.9% premarket after adjusted earnings of $3.38 per share beat the $3.32 consensus, despite $7.1 billion revenue missing expectations.
Palantir jumps 15% premarket after second-quarter U.S. commercial revenue surges nearly 150%, while Caterpillar climbs 8% with $8.17 EPS and $20.54 billion revenue crushing analyst estimates.
Merck and Pfizer both raise full-year revenue guidance after reporting adjusted results that surpassed analyst consensus for both earnings and sales.

Premarket movers driven by quarterly results

As reported by CNBC, McDonald’s shares gain 1.9% before the bell after the hamburger chain posts adjusted earnings of $3.38 per share, above the LSEG consensus of $3.32 per share, while revenue of $7.1 billion comes in slightly below the expected $7.13 billion.

Merck rises more than 1% after reporting an adjusted loss of 13 cents per share on revenue of $16.61 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expect a loss of 27 cents per share on revenue of $16.36 billion, and the drugmaker also raises its full-year revenue guidance.

Palantir Technologies jumps 15% after posting strong second-quarter results, supported by a nearly 150% increase in U.S. commercial revenue. Caterpillar climbs 8% after reporting adjusted earnings of $8.17 per share on revenue of $20.54 billion, ahead of analyst expectations for $6.20 per share and $19.34 billion in revenue.

Pfizer also moves higher after second-quarter results top Wall Street estimates. The company reports adjusted earnings of 77 cents per share on revenue of $15.03 billion, compared with analyst expectations for 68 cents per share on revenue of $14.41 billion, and lifts the low end of its full-year revenue outlook.

Earnings season supports broad sector sentiment

The premarket moves point to broad support for stocks tied to earnings outperformance, spanning fast food, heavy equipment, data analytics and large pharmaceuticals. In several cases, stronger-than-expected profit figures appear to outweigh softer revenue comparisons or prior expectations for losses.

Updated guidance from Merck and Pfizer also adds to the market focus on full-year sales momentum, while Palantir’s U.S. commercial growth highlights continuing investor interest in software companies with fast-expanding domestic demand. Caterpillar’s gain suggests industrial names are also benefiting when results come in well above consensus forecasts.

In our earlier article on Palantir’s sharp premarket rally after its Q2 earnings, we detailed how results beat expectations on surging commercial and solid government growth tied to demand for enterprise AI tools. We also noted the company’s higher full-year revenue outlook and its positioning around “AI sovereignty,” as customers push to keep sensitive data and model control in-house.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.