Investing.com - Stocks in focus in premarket trade Thursday:
· General Electric (NYSE:GE) stock recovered to be up 1.6% by 8:15 AM ET (12:15 GMT), after falling earlier as the company told shareholders it expects this year's earnings to be below analysts' forecasts due partly to the troubles of its power business struggles. GE said it expects 2019 adjusted earnings to be between $0.50 and $0.60 a share, less than the $0.70 consensus forecast.
· Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock fell 0.2% after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded its best-selling 737 Max 8, joining dozens of other countries who grounded the plane earlier in the week. The FAA has said it will investigate the model after a second deadly crash involving the jet.
· Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) stock lost 1.8% amid reports that U.S. prosecutors are probing the social media giant's data deals. A long outage on Wednesday that affected its Instagram and Whatsapp apps has also weighed on the stock.
· Dollar General (NYSE:DG) fell 6.8% after forecasting 2019 earnings some 5% below analysts' consensus citing heavy investment spending; that was despite beating expectations for comparable sales in its latest quarterly update. It also raised its dividend and increased its stock buyback program.
· Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock gained 1.2% after Cowen rated the company at outperform.
· Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) stock slipped 1.5% after a cancer victim who sued the company over its talc-based powder was awarded $29 million by a California jury.
· Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) stock inched up 0.3% after Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) increased its stake in the company to 71 million shares, according to an SEC filing.