Stock futures were falling Monday after President Donald Trump threatened to impose further tariffs on Canada, fueling fears that the "sell America" trade could gather pace, and as the chances of a partial U.S. government shutdown appeared more likely.
These stocks were poised to make moves:
USA Rare Earth surged 37% to $33.90 ahead of the opening bell. The Trump administration is planning to inject $1.6 billion into the miner and will receive a 10% stake, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. USA Rare Earth and the White House didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Barron's. Other rare earths stocks also were getting a boost: MP Materials gained 4.9% and Ramaco Resources added 6.4% in premarket trading.
Micron Technology slid 1.5% after Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Samsung Electronics was set to supply Nvidia with next-generation memory chips. Nvidia declined to comment on the report. Samsung didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Barron's on Monday. Micron is the chief rival of South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix in making high-bandwidth memory chips chips, which are crucial for the latest artificial-intelligence processors.
Intel fell 1.2% after shares dropped 17% on Friday following a downbeat outlook. Intel said it expects losses to continue into the first quarter from the fourth quarter as the company feels the impact of surging memory component costs. The stock's decline Friday erased $46 billion in market capitalization and was its worst one-day percentage drop since early August 2024.
Advanced Micro Devices slipped 0.9% on Monday, putting the chip maker on course to snap a nine-session winning streak. AMD has gained 28% over that span, with investors growing more optimistic about the chip maker's business prospects after assessing the financial results of rival Intel.
Newmont and Freeport-McMoRan were the S&P 500's two best performers in premarket trading, rising 4.5% and 4.1% respectively. The mining stocks rallied after gold futures topped $5,000 an ounce for the first time, with investors piling into safe-haven assets due to the prospect of another government shutdown and the threat of additional tariffs on Canada.
Baker Hughes climbed 3% after the oilfield drilling company beat analysts' estimates for fourth-quarter earnings and revenue on Sunday. Baker Hughes said it expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization "growth in the mid-single digits range" this year, when analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a rise of 2.7%.
Revolution Medicines tumbled 23%. Merck is no longer in talks to buy the cancer-drug biotech, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Merck and Revolution Medicines didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Barron's.
Sarepta Therapeutics rose 6.4% after the biotech said it would report three-year topline data from its phase three study evaluating its gene therapy elevidys, a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The call is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on Monday.