Online retailer's forecast may not be bright enough to forestall early selloff.
An outlook that's not rosy enough for its most demanding followers could thwart Amazon.com, and with it the Nasdaq composite index, at the start of trading Wednesday.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a lower start for the major indexes.
Late Tuesday, online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) posted higher-than-expected income on strong sales. It also gave an optimistic sales forecast for the current quarter, which includes the year-end holidays.
Some analysts were looking for an even rosier picture; "They came in modestly above forecasts, but I think expectations were that they could have done much better," Jeetil Patel, analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities, told Reuters.
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Amazon shares fell 5 percent in early trading.
The spreadsheets will be spread out Wednesday on Wall Street as five Dow components, telecom operator BellSouth and media power Time Warner are among scheduled to report results before trading begins.
DuPont (DD: Research, Estimates), the chemical developer, is expected to post earnings of 11 cents a share, down from 40 cents a year earlier, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call.
Kodak (EK: Research, Estimates), which recently announced it will go away from its photo products focus and toward the digital camera and printer market, is seen reporting a profit of 57 cents a share, down from $1.04 in the prior year.
J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: Research, Estimates), the banking and brokerage company, is forecast to reveal a profit of 76 cents a share, up from 16 cents a share a year earlier.
Drugmaker Merck (MRK: Research, Estimates) is projected to unveil earnings of 85 cents a share, up from 78 cents a year earlier.
And McDonald's (MCD: Research, Estimates), the fast food purveyor that has been showing signs of a turnaround, is seen putting up a profit of 40 cents a share, up from 38 cents a share in the 2002 period.
There's also BellSouth (BLS: Research, Estimates), the regional phone operator whose income is estimated to come in at 50 cents a share, down from 52 cents a year earlier, amid concern of tough revenue and profit challenges for traditional phone companies.
And Time Warner (TWX: Research, Estimates), the recently renamed media company that's the parent of CNN/Money, has an analysts' operating earnings estimate of 9 cents a share, up from 1 cent a year earlier.
After the bell come data processor EDS (EDS: Research, Estimates) and video game wizard Electronic Arts (ERTS: Research, Estimates).
Weakness in the telecom sector hurt the Dow Jones industrial average Tuesday, with the blue chip indicator down 0.3 percent. But the Nasdaq composite index got a boost from the optimistic picture for its tech companies painted by chipmaker Texas Instruments, and rose 0.8 percent.
Asian-Pacific stocks retreated Wednesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index down 1.3 percent to below the 11,000 mark. European markets started with declines. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices were little changed, with the 10-year note yield holding at 4.34 percent. The dollar gained against the yen, but was down versus the euro.
Brent oil futures gained 19 cents to $28.82 a barrel in London, where gold was above $380 an ounce in early trading.
An outlook that's not rosy enough for its most demanding followers could thwart Amazon.com, and with it the Nasdaq composite index, at the start of trading Wednesday.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a lower start for the major indexes.
Late Tuesday, online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) posted higher-than-expected income on strong sales. It also gave an optimistic sales forecast for the current quarter, which includes the year-end holidays.
Some analysts were looking for an even rosier picture; "They came in modestly above forecasts, but I think expectations were that they could have done much better," Jeetil Patel, analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities, told Reuters.
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Amazon shares fell 5 percent in early trading.
The spreadsheets will be spread out Wednesday on Wall Street as five Dow components, telecom operator BellSouth and media power Time Warner are among scheduled to report results before trading begins.
DuPont (DD: Research, Estimates), the chemical developer, is expected to post earnings of 11 cents a share, down from 40 cents a year earlier, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call.
Kodak (EK: Research, Estimates), which recently announced it will go away from its photo products focus and toward the digital camera and printer market, is seen reporting a profit of 57 cents a share, down from $1.04 in the prior year.
J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: Research, Estimates), the banking and brokerage company, is forecast to reveal a profit of 76 cents a share, up from 16 cents a share a year earlier.
Drugmaker Merck (MRK: Research, Estimates) is projected to unveil earnings of 85 cents a share, up from 78 cents a year earlier.
And McDonald's (MCD: Research, Estimates), the fast food purveyor that has been showing signs of a turnaround, is seen putting up a profit of 40 cents a share, up from 38 cents a share in the 2002 period.
There's also BellSouth (BLS: Research, Estimates), the regional phone operator whose income is estimated to come in at 50 cents a share, down from 52 cents a year earlier, amid concern of tough revenue and profit challenges for traditional phone companies.
And Time Warner (TWX: Research, Estimates), the recently renamed media company that's the parent of CNN/Money, has an analysts' operating earnings estimate of 9 cents a share, up from 1 cent a year earlier.
After the bell come data processor EDS (EDS: Research, Estimates) and video game wizard Electronic Arts (ERTS: Research, Estimates).
Weakness in the telecom sector hurt the Dow Jones industrial average Tuesday, with the blue chip indicator down 0.3 percent. But the Nasdaq composite index got a boost from the optimistic picture for its tech companies painted by chipmaker Texas Instruments, and rose 0.8 percent.
Asian-Pacific stocks retreated Wednesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index down 1.3 percent to below the 11,000 mark. European markets started with declines. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices were little changed, with the 10-year note yield holding at 4.34 percent. The dollar gained against the yen, but was down versus the euro.
Brent oil futures gained 19 cents to $28.82 a barrel in London, where gold was above $380 an ounce in early trading.
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