GameStop, Bitcoin, Citrix, Coupa: What to Watch When the Stock Market Opens Today

GameStop reports earnings after the close; bitcoin is extending its fall.

Stock futures areticking loweras Covid-19 cases remain elevated and the outlook for central bank policy has become clouded amid a September economic slowdown. Here’s what we’re watching ahead of Wednesday’s open.

• Citrix SystemsCTXS0.73%climbed 4.3% premarket. The Wall Street Journal reported that activist hedge fund Elliott Management has a more than $1 billion stake in the software company and wants it to take action toboost its lagging stock price, according to people familiar with the matter.

• Coupa SoftwareCOUP0.54%shares jumped 6% premarket after the company raised its financial targets for the year, topping analysts’ expectations.
• Bitcoin edged lower early Wednesday, offering little respite to holders of the volatile cryptocurrency after aflash crasha day earlier erased billions of dollars in its value.CoinbaseCOIN-4.18%Global was sharing the pain, with its shares down 3.1% premarket.
• Earnings are due from executive recruiterKorn FerryKFY1.64%before the opening bell.
• PayPalPYPL1.43%nudged up 0.5% premarket. The payments processor agreed to buy Japanese “buy now, pay later” startup Paidy for about $2.7 billion, in a move that will boost its business in the world’s third-largest e-commerce market.
• SmartsheetSMAR-1.23%dropped 4.5% premarket after the business software provider’s earnings report showed a net loss, though its revenue increased. Keybanc nudged its price target for the stock higher, to $94 a share. The stock closed Tuesday at $82.74.
• UiPath,PATH-1.44%which provides accounts payable, claims processing and other services on its platform, dropped more than 7%. And while it beat Wall Street targets, it still registered a per-share loss.
• GameStop,GME-1.85%Lululemon AthleticaLULU-0.48%andAvid BioservicesCDMO1.99%are are due to report results after the close.

Chart of the Day

• Digital currencies are paving the way for deeply negative interest rates, writes columnist James Mackintosh. If people can’t hoard physical money, it becomes much easier to cut rates far below zero.