Wall Street futures inched higher on Friday, led by gains in those tracking the Nasdaq 100 as technology shares broadly advanced, while Netflix soared following strong quarterly results.

Market Snapshot

At 8:28 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 71 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Pre-Market Movers

Chinese ADRs — U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms jumped in premarket trading on central bank measures to boost domestic market. Direxion Daily FTSE China Bull 3X Shares rose 15%; Li Auto and XPeng rose 7%; NIO rose 6%; JD.com rose 5%; PDD Holdings rose 4%; Alibaba rose 3%.

Apple - Apple's new iPhones got off to a strong start in China, with their sales rising 20% in their first three weeks since their launch compared with its 2023 model, according to data from research firm Counterpoint. The shares gained 2% in premarket trading.

Procter & Gamble — The stock fell 0.6% after reporting weaker-than-expected revenue. The household goods maker posted $21.74 billion in revenue while analysts polled by LSEG had estimated $21.91 billion. The company attributed the miss to lower demand in China. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.93 topped estimates of $1.90 per share.

Netflix — Shares popped 6.3% after the streaming giant exceeded Wall Street’s third-quarter expectations. Netflix reported earnings per share of $5.40 on revenue of $9.83 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG forecast earnings of $5.12 a share on revenue of m $9.77 billion. The company also saw its ad-supported membership tier jump 34% quarter-over-quarter.

Western Alliance — The regional bank stock dropped more than 4%. Despite posting a top-line beat of $823 million in revenue versus LSEG analysts’ estimates for $808 million, net interest income fell 3% in the third-quarter.

American Express — Shares of the credit card company ticked down 3% on a mixed earnings report. Revenue of $16.64 billion fell short of the LSEG consensus forecast for $16.67 billion. However, earnings of $3.49 per share topped forecasts of $3.28. Apple — The tech giant advanced 2% after Bloomberg reported that iPhone sales in China jumped 20% year-over-year in the first three weeks of sales.

Schlumberger — Shares dipped 1.2% after Schlumberger posted third-quarter revenue that fell short of estimates. Revenue of $9.16 billion fell below the $9.25 billion LSEG consensus forecast. On the other hand, adjusted earnings of 89 cents per share topped the 88 cents earnings per share expectation.

Intuitive Surgical — The stock added more than 6% after the maker of the da Vinci surgical robot beat on both top and bottom lines in the third quarter. Intuitive Surgical earned $1.84 per share on $2.04 billion in revenue, while analysts surveyed by LSEG had predicted earnings of $1.63 per share on $2 billion in revenue.

Market News

U.S. to Probe Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” System After Pedestrian Killed in Low Visibility Conditions

The U.S. government’s road safety agency is again investigating Tesla Motors’s “Full Self-Driving” system, this time after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian.

The National Highway Safety Administration says in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday after the company reported four crashes after Teslas entered areas of low visibility including sun glare, fog and airborne dust.

The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

CVS Replaces CEO, Pulls Profit Forecast as Investor Pressure Mounts

CVS Health withdrew its 2024 profit forecast on Friday and announced company veteran David Joyner will replace Karen Lynch as CEO, handing him the steep challenge of reversing the healthcare conglomerate's weak performance.

Shares fell 12% in premarket trading, adding to this year's losses, as CVS also forecast quarterly adjusted profit below estimates. Shareholders have become increasingly nervous about repeated profit forecast cuts this year as its drugstores face reimbursement pressures and high costs hit the health insurance industry.

Bridgewater’s China Hedge Fund Adds Local Stocks After 31% Gain

Bridgewater Associates’ onshore China hedge fund was adding exposure to local stocks after a rally last month boosted the fund’s returns to 31% for the year, saying valuations remained attractive.

Chinese stock prices were still “relatively low” compared with their profit outlook despite the rebound, and Bridgewater would continue to “moderately increase” holdings, the Shanghai-based fund said in its third-quarter letter to investors. The fund was also long on bonds, and took a “neutral” stance on commodities, according to the letter that shared its views as of Sept. 30, seen by Bloomberg News.