* Netflix falls as subscriber growth slows after pandemic
boom
* Verizon shares fall after Q1 results
* Futures down: Dow 0.10%, S&P 0.17%, Nasdaq 0.39%
(Adds comments, bullets, details; Updates prices throughout)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Devik Jain
April 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
open lower on Wednesday as Netflix kicked off quarterly earnings
for technology behemoths with a disappointing report, while
concerns about a surge in global coronavirus cases hit demand
for equities.
The streaming service provider NFLX.O tumbled 9.2% in
premarket trading after its report showed slower production of
TV shows and movies during the pandemic hurt subscriber growth
in the first quarter. Shares of mega-cap firms, including Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Facebook Inc FB.O and Tesla Inc
TSLA.O , fell between 0.4% and 0.7%.
"Netflix is weighing on the tech sector for sure this
morning," said Dennis Dick, head of markets structure and a
proprietary trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas.
"We get into the heart of all the major tech stocks
reporting next week and the first one didn't do that great and
now that lowers the bar for Apple and Microsoft etc."
Wall Street closed lower in the previous session as a global
spike in coronavirus cases hit travel-related shares and
investors had second thoughts about big U.S. banks' apparently
stellar earnings last week.
Global stocks were also subdued on Wednesday due to rising
concerns over spiking COVID-19 infections in Asia and their
impact on oil prices. MKTS/GLOB
With the first-quarter earnings season picking up pace,
analysts expect profit for S&P 500 companies to jump 30.9% from
a year earlier, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
At 8:26 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 33 points,
or 0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 7 points, or 0.17%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 53.25 points, or 0.39%.
Verizon Communications Inc VZ.N dropped 0.3% as it said it
lost more wireless subscribers than expected during the first
quarter due to intense competition. Shares of T-Mobile US Inc
TMUS.O and AT&T Inc T.N were also lower. U.S. railroad operator CSX Corp CSX.O fell 0.5% after it
missed estimates for first-quarter profit, hurt by frigid polar
vortex temperatures, ongoing pandemic disruptions and higher
fuel costs.