Biggest Company Moves Before the Market Opened

Want to know what was happening with big companies before the stock market officially opened? Here’s a super simple breakdown of the biggest movers and shakers in premarket trading (that’s the time before the regular market hours when investors can already buy and sell).

Netflix

• Netflix is a company that lets you stream movies and shows.
• Its stock dropped more than 10% (that means its share price went down a lot).
• This happened after its second-quarter results (how it did from April to June) were just “in-line.” That’s a fancy way of saying they matched what experts guessed, but didn’t wow them.
• Netflix made 80 cents for each share (a small piece of the company) and earned $12.56 billion in total sales.
• Experts thought it would make 79 cents per share on $12.59 billion.
• Netflix also said it will share its “What We Watched” reports less often. These reports show what people are watching, which helps investors see how busy the platform is.

Alphabet (Google’s Parent Company)

• Alphabet is the big company that owns Google.
• Its stock went down 1.5% for the second day in a row.
• Why? Bloomberg (a news company) said Google is months late in releasing its newest Gemini AI model (AI = a smart computer brain).
• On Thursday, Alphabet’s stock already fell almost 4.5% because of this news.

Intuitive Surgical

• This company makes robot tools that help doctors do surgery.
• Its stock fell more than 11%.
• In the second quarter, it made $2.80 per share (adjusted = cleaned-up number) on $2.89 billion in sales.
• Experts expected $2.50 per share on $2.82 billion—so it actually did better than guessed!
• It still kept its full-year guess: about 14% more procedures using its da Vinci robot system.

SpaceX

• SpaceX builds big rockets, like the Starship mega rocket.
• Its stock fell more than 3.5% after it stopped a rocket launch.
• CEO Elon Musk posted on X (a social media site) that some engines didn’t start, so the computer automatically stopped the launch.
• He promised they will try again in a few days.

Verizon Communications

• Verizon is a phone and internet company.
• Its stock went up 1%.
• It said it will sell 274 of its own stores and cut about 500 office jobs.
• This is part of Verizon cleaning up and rearranging how it works (called restructuring).

BP and ConocoPhillips

• Both are energy companies (they deal with oil and gas).
• Their stocks went up more than 1%.
• CNBC reporter Brian Sullivan said they will announce new investments in Iraq on Friday.
• The exact details weren’t ready yet, but people in the know said the money could be billions—maybe even tens of billions of dollars.

Truist Financial Corporation

• Truist is a bank.
• Its stock rose 1.4%.
• It shared second-quarter earnings of $1.23 per share, beating the $1.08 experts expected (from FactSet, another data company).
• Its total sales were also higher than expected.

Alcoa

• Alcoa makes aluminum.
• Its stock slipped 0.5% (went down a tiny bit) even though it beat guesses.
• It made $2.12 per share (excluding some items) on $3.97 billion sales. Experts thought $2.06 per share on $3.94 billion.
• It also lowered its 2026 guess for making alumina (a material used to make aluminum).

Software Stocks

• Lots of software companies went down.
• A fund that tracks them (iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF, or IGV) fell more than 1.5% and is set for its sixth drop in seven weeks.
• Salesforce and Palantir went down more than 2.4%, ServiceNow dropped 2%, and Microsoft fell 1.7%.

Memory Stocks

• These are companies that make computer memory parts.
• The AI trade (investing in AI-related stuff) kept losing steam.
• The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) fell more than 3% and may end the week down 19%.
• Western Digital dropped 2.5%, Micron Technology fell 1.5%, and Seagate went down 2%.

Fifth Third Bancorp

• This is a regional bank.
• Its stock went slightly up even though it missed earnings guesses a bit.
• But its net interest income (money made from loans vs. deposits) matched expectations and was 48% higher than a year ago.

Important Point: Premarket moves show how investors feel before the official trading day. A drop doesn’t always mean a company did badly—sometimes they beat guesses but still fell!

Summary

Before the market opened, Netflix and Intuitive Surgical dropped after their reports, Alphabet slid on AI delays, and SpaceX aborted a launch. Verizon, BP, ConocoPhillips, Truist, and Fifth Third saw gains from restructuring, Iraq investments, or earnings beats. Alcoa dipped slightly despite beating estimates, while software and memory stocks broadly fell amid AI pressure.

FAQ

What does “premarket” mean?
It’s the trading period before the stock market’s normal hours, where investors can already buy and sell shares.

Why did Netflix stock fall if it matched expectations?
Because investors weren’t impressed—they wanted bigger surprises or better news, plus Netflix said it would share less viewer data.

What is an ETF?
An ETF is a basket that holds many stocks at once, so you can invest in a whole group like “software companies” with one purchase.

Why are memory stocks dropping?
The excitement around AI investing is cooling off, and a fund tracking memory chips is down sharply for the week.