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* Amazon drops on weak holiday-quarter forecast
* Intel gains after raising revenue forecast
* Verizon up after beating expectations
* Futures down: Dow 0.17%, S&P 500 0.05%, Nasdaq 0.01%
(Adds comment, updates market action)
By Arjun Panchadar
Oct 25 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open flat on
Friday, as a dour sales forecast from Amazon overshadowed a
clutch of strong results in what has so far been an upbeat
third-quarter earnings season.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O dropped 6.1% in premarket
trading after the e-commerce giant forecast revenue and profit
for the crucial holiday quarter below estimates, citing fierce
competition. The company is among the few high-profile names to have
reported poor results this week. Of the 168 S&P 500 companies
that have reported earnings so far, more than 80% beat profit
expectations, according to Refinitiv data.
"We've had some misses ... mostly due to trade war concerns,
but overall, it looks like we're headed for a fairly good
earnings season," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
After a rocky start to the month mainly on trade tensions,
the benchmark S&P 500 index is set for its best week in six,
while the Nasdaq is eyeing its biggest percentage gain in seven
weeks.
Chipmaker Intel Corp INTC.O issued an upbeat forecast,
helping lift other chip stocks including Nvidia Corp NVDA.O ,
Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O and Micron Technology MU.O .
At 8:56 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 45 points,
or 0.17%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 1.5 points, or 0.05%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 0.5 points, or 0.01%.
Shares of Dow-component Verizon Communications Inc VZ.N
rose slightly as the U.S. wireless carrier beat analysts'
quarterly estimates for new subscribers who pay a monthly bill.
Investors are also eyeing economic indicators to assess the
impact of the trade war on the domestic economy after data
earlier this month showed a sharp contraction in U.S.
manufacturing and a slowdown in the services sector.
A University of Michigan survey on consumer sentiment is
expected at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Among other stocks, apparel maker VF Corp VFC.N fell 5.1%
after reporting lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue, hurt
by sluggish demand for its North Face and Vans brands.
Shares of Charter Communications Inc CHTR.O gained 5.7%
after the cable operator posted better-than-expected quarterly
results as it attracted more customers for its broadband
services, offsetting a drop in pay TV subscribers. The next round of earnings due next week includes Apple Inc
AAPL.O , Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O , Pfizer Inc PFE.N and Merck &
Co Inc MRK.N .