Stock futures are flat after fresh U.S. unemployment data: Live updates

Las Vegas-based PlayAGS, a maker of online casino games, agreed to be bought by Brightstar Capital Partners, middle market private equity firm, for $12.50 a share in cash, a 40% premoum to Wednesday’s close. The deal values PlayAGS at $1.1 billion and is expected to close sometime in the second half.

Here are some of the names making moves before the bell:

• Planet Fitness — Shares were down 2.8% after the gym franchise reported a revenue miss for its first quarter and issued disappointing guidance for the year.
• Tapestry  — The Coach parent lost nearly 3% after reporting a revenue miss for its third quarter. It also cut its full-year revenue estimate to over $6.6 billion from about $6.7 billion — and shy of the $6.74 billion expected from analysts polled by FactSet.
• Warner Bros. Discovery — The stock dropped 3.6% after the media company reported a 40 cents loss per share for its first quarter, greater than the LSEG consensus estimate of a 24 cent loss. Revenue also came in weaker than expected.

To see the full list, read here.

— Michelle Fox

Roblox shares plummeted nearly 29% after the video game developer slashed its guidance for the full year.

Roblox said it now expects bookings to range between $4 billion and $4.10 billion, versus a FactSet estimate of $4.23 billion. That’s also below previous guidance of $4.14 to $4.28 billion.

Bookings rose 19% in the first quarter from a year ago, coming in at $923.8 million. That fell short of a FactSet estimate of $930.4 million.

— Samantha Subin

The Bank of England on Thursday kept its benchmark bank rate steady but indicated that much-anticipated interest rate cuts are on the horizon.

BOE Governor Andrew Bailey said inflation indicators “are moving in the right direction” though the bank’s post-meeting statement noted that indicators “remain elevated” and upside risks remain. Bailey cautioned that a June cut is not certain.

The decision holds the benchmark Bank Rate at 5.25%, around the level where the U.S. Federal Reserve keeps its funds rate.

Markets are fully pricing in a quarter percentage point rate cut at the August meeting and an additional reduction later in the year. That comes as U.K. inflation is expected to plummet in April because of declining energy costs.

— Jeff Cox

Warner Bros. Discovery shares fell more than 7% in the premarket after the media giant posted weaker-than-expected results for the first quarter. The company lost 40 cents per share on revenue of $9.96 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a loss of 24 cents per share on revenue of $10.23 billion.

The misses came even as Warner Bros. Discovery reported growth in its streaming services.

— Fred Imbert

Sony Pictures Entertainment and private-equity firm Apollo Global Management’s plan to acquire Paramount Global including auctioning off the entertainment giant’s different segments, according to the New York Times, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The plan to take over Paramount for $26 billion would include auctioning off CBS, cable channels and the Paramount Plus streaming service, the NYT reported. The movie studio Paramount Pictures would be combined with Sony’s business.

Paramount’s shares rose 1.3% in premarket trading.

Click here to read the original story.

— Yun Li

European equity markets were mixed early Thursday, as the recent flurry of earnings slowed and markets braced themselves for new messaging on the path of interest rates from the Bank of England.

The regional Stoxx 600 was down 0.06%, though major bourses were in the green, with Germany’s DAX up 0.3%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 were slightly above the flatline.

— Jenni Reid

Mainland China’s CSI 300 index rose nearly 1%, extending gains after opening 0.2% higher, as the country’s customs agency released upbeat trade data.

While April imports topped estimates, exports rose in line with expectations.

China’s imports climbed 8.4% in April, compared with Reuters poll estimate of a 4.8% year-on-year rise. Exports rose 1.5% year on year in April in U.S. dollar terms, meeting expectations.

Exports and imports had both declined year on year in March.

— Shreyashi Sanyal, Evelyn Cheng

Bank of Japan could raise interest rates faster than what the market expects, according to the summary of opinions from the central bank’s monetary policy meeting in April.

The bank said that there was “high uncertainty” about economic activity and prices that were forecast in April.

The bank in April raised its inflation for fiscal 2024, forecasting inflation between 2.5% and 3%, up from 2.2% to 2.5% forecast in January.

The BOJ said “if this outlook will be realized, then in about two years, the price stability target of 2% will be achieved in a sustainable and stable manner,” resulting in a future policy rate higher than what is being factored in by the market.

— Lim Hui Jie

Real wages in Japan fell 2.5% year on year in March, marking its 24th straight month of decline.

The 2.5% drop in March was faster than the 1.8% recorded in February, as rising costs outpaced nominal wages.

Nominal wages rose 0.6% compared to the same period last year, coming in at 301,193 yen ($1,938.66) and slowing from the 1.4% rise seen in February.

— Lim Hui Jie

Mitsubishi Motors Corp shares fell 5% in early trading after the Japanese automaker forecast lower earnings for the current fiscal year.

Mitsubishi on Wednesday said it expected a net profit of 144 billion yen ($926,784.06) in the fiscal year ending March 2025, which is about 7% lower than its 154.71 billion yen net profit last year.

Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday forecast lower operating profit for its current financial year as well.

The broader Topix index was 0.4% higher on the day.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up to offer their streaming services in a bundle, the entertainment giants announced on Wednesday evening.

The bundle will bring together the companies’ streaming services — Disney+, Hulu and Max — in one package this summer. The offering will be available on the ad-supported and commercial-free tiers.

Shares of WBD inched higher in after-hours trading, while Disney was little changed.

CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo and Alex Sherman share the details on the new bundle here.

Airbnb reported strong quarterly results and was very optimistic for the summer travel season. A big reason why – people are eagerly traveling for special events.

A large number —500,000 — guests booked Airbnb stays during the North American total eclipse last month. During the upcoming Summer Olympics, bookings in Paris are five times higher than the year-ago period. Meanwhile, cities in Germany are also seeing double the Airbnb bookings during the Euro Cup soccer tournament this summer.

This is more evidence that consumers are still spending strongly on travel and entertainment experiences despite ongoing concerns about the economy.

— Robert Hum

Stock futures were little changed on Wednesday, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average earned its sixth straight positive session.

Futures tied to the 30-stock Dow ticked down 6 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.06% while Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.1% lower.

— Brian Evans