U.S. futures are pointing to a negative open on this last trading day of April after the S&P 500 closed at a record. Investors are digging through earnings following another busy after-hours session Thursday that included results from Amazon and Twitter. Shares of Twitter are down more than 10 per cent ahead of the opening bell. The company provided lower than expected revenue guidance for the second quarter and also missed on user growth expectations.

AMAZON SALES SURGE AS PANDEMIC BOOM CONTINUES

Meanwhile, shares of Amazon are trading higher in the pre-market after handily topping the Street’s profit and revenue expectations in the first quarter. Sales jumped 44 per cent from a year earlier as consumers continued to rely more on online shopping amid the global pandemic, and the company expects this trend to continue even after the coronavirus is under control. Outside of its core retail business, sales at Amazon Web Services – its cloud-computing and advertising business – rose 32 per cent from the same period a year ago.

RESTAURANT BRANDS TOPS Q1 EXPECTATIONS

Shares of Restaurant Brands International – the company that owns Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes – are also on the rise in the pre-market session. The company topped analyst expectations in the first quarter. Same-store sales rose modestly at Popeyes and Burger King but fell by 2.3 per cent at Tim Hortons.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

  • The Senate is set to vote today on back-to-work legislation that will bring an end to the strike at the Port of Montreal, which has affected over a thousand dockworkers
  • Chevron has posted a Q1 profit and is raising its dividend as the oil price recovery boosts quarterly results
  • General Motors is investing more than a billion dollars to build electric vehicles in Mexico. The facility, which currently builds Chevrolet Equinox and Chevrolet Blazer models, will be the company’s fifth EV plant in North America and should be up and running in 2023
  • American retailer L.L.Bean is opening four new stores in Canada this year

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

  • Notable data: Canadian GDP (Feb), Canadian industrial product and raw materials price indices, U.S. personal income and spending
  • Notable earnings: Restaurant Brands International, Imperial Oil, Exxon Mobil, Chevron
  • 8:30 a.m. ET: Fairfax Financial CEO Prem Watsa holds quarterly press conference
  • 8:30 a.m.: Restaurant Brands quarterly conference call
  • 11 a.m.: Premier Ford to Hold a Virtual Press Conference 11am
  • 11:30 a.m.: The Prime Minister will address Canadians on the COVID-19 situation and hold a media availability
  • Deadline to file taxes with CRA
  • Disney reopens two theme parks in California