Amylyx, Duolingo and Profusa jump premarket, Baidu falls after Q2 results

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures moved lower on Tuesday, as renewed tensions between the United States and Iran pushed oil prices higher and revived concerns that a fresh energy shock could put upward pressure on inflation. 

By 06:27 ET (10:27 GMT), S&P 500 futures had fallen 39 points, or 0.5%, Nasdaq 100 futures had dropped 379 points, or 1.3%, while Dow Jones futures were little changed.

The rise in oil prices comes as investors reassess the prospects for easing tensions between Washington and Tehran, with higher energy costs threatening to complicate the inflation outlook and potentially limit the Federal Reserve’s room to cut interest rates.

Away from the broader market, several stocks were making sharp moves in premarket trading following earnings, analyst actions and major clinical developments.

Duolingo stock rose 3.5% after DA Davidson upgraded the language-learning platform to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $160. Citi also lifted its target to $140 from $101, while Duolingo announced the acquisition of London-based animation studio Animade.

DA Davidson said improvements to Duolingo’s core product, marketing strategy and monetization engine remained underappreciated by investors.

Duos Technologies stock gained 5.9% after the company reported second-quarter earnings of $1.61 per share, compared with analyst expectations for a loss of $0.02 per share. The result was helped by a $53.2 million gain from the sale of its New APR Energy investments.

Revenue increased 30% year-over-year to $6.18 million, while the company reported its first positive operating quarter since shifting toward data-center infrastructure.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals surged 24.9% ahead of topline results from its Phase 3 LUCIDITY trial of avexitide, an experimental treatment for post-bariatric hypoglycemia.

The company said it would release the data Tuesday morning and hold a conference call at 8 a.m. ET. The readout is being closely watched because avexitide is one of the most advanced treatments in development for the condition.

The anticipated data also sent shares of Vogenx sharply higher, with the stock surging 31.1%. Investors are viewing Amylyx’s results as a potential read-through for Vogenx, which is developing its own treatment for post-bariatric hypoglycemia.

Vogenx only began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on Aug. 12 following an IPO, leaving its relatively thin float particularly sensitive to speculative trading.

Profusa shares soared 95.6% after the company’s latest reverse stock split took effect. The 1-for-4 split reduced its shares outstanding from roughly 2.42 million to about 606,000, creating an exceptionally thin share structure that can amplify relatively small changes in demand.

The company has also recently signed an option agreement to acquire G3 Vision Labs and has a pending letter of intent for the PanOmics multi-omics diagnostics platform, adding to the speculative interest around the stock.

On the downside, Baidu fell 4.1% after the Chinese technology company reported second-quarter results that missed analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue.

Baidu reported earnings of RMB7.22 per share, below the RMB9.84 consensus estimate, while revenue of RMB31.33 billion fell short of the RMB31.95 billion forecast and declined 4% from a year earlier.

DocGo dropped 12.7% after reporting an adjusted loss of $0.16 per share, wider than the expected $0.10 loss, while revenue of $73.4 million also missed estimates of $75.4 million.

Revenue declined 8.7% year-over-year, largely reflecting the wind-down of migrant-related contracts. The company said its underlying business remained stronger, with revenue excluding migrant-related activity increasing 19% and medical transportation revenue reaching a record $52 million.

Fabrinet fell 8.6% despite beating Wall Street’s estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue of $1.316 billion exceeded expectations of about $1.27 billion, while non-GAAP earnings of $4.10 per share topped the $3.81 consensus.

The negative reaction suggests investors were focused on concerns beneath the headline earnings beat rather than the quarterly results themselves.