Walmart, BHP Group, Philips Rise Premarket; Home Depot, Zoom Fall

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse

AiVIF.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Tuesday, August 16th. Please refresh for updates.

• Home Depot (NYSE:HD) stock fell 0.8% after the home improvement retailer maintained its outlook for fiscal 2022 even as it reported quarterly comparable sales above expectations on steady demand for home improvement goods from builders and handymen.

• Walmart (NYSE:WMT) stock rose 4.1% after the retail giant forecast a smaller drop in annual profit than it had predicted less than a month ago, after deep discounts to clear excess merchandise and a drop in fuel prices helped it beat expectations for quarterly sales.

• Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) stock fell 3.3% after Citigroup downgraded its investment stance on the communications company to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’, citing growing competition from Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Teams.

• Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) stock fell 2% after B. Riley downgraded its stance on the home furnishings retailer to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’, saying it’s trading at unrealistic valuations.

• PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock rose 1.0% after Daiwa upgraded its stance on the online payments giant to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’, saying the company is turning around after recent struggles.

• BHP Group (NYSE:BHP) ADRs rose 3% after the mining giant reported its highest profit in 11 years on the back of gains in prices of coal and other commodities.
• Philips (NYSE:PHG) ADRs rose 2.6% after the Dutch health technology company unexpectedly announced the imminent departure of CEO Frans van Houten, as he takes the blame for a massive product recall that has halved its market value over the past year.
• ZipRecruiter (NYSE:ZIP) stock fell 7% after the online employment website operator announced disappointing guidance, saying employers were starting to pull back on job postings.
• ThredUp (NASDAQ:TDUP) stock rose 2.3% after the online clothing resale platform reported a 29% increase in active buyers.