Social Buzz: Wallstreetbets Stocks Mixed Pre-Bell Friday; Oscar Health, Circle Internet to Open Higher

Tesla has signed a deal to invest 4 billion Chinese renminbi ($556 million) in the construction of its first grid-scale battery storage station using its megapack batteries in China, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a report from local news outlet Yicai.

The report stated that the station will be located in Shanghai, and the company has signed a deal with the local government and China Kangfu International Leasing.

Tesla did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.

Tesla has an average rating of hold and mean price target of $306.04, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

By Joe Woelfel

Stock futures declined modestly Friday as Wall Street was back in action following the Juneteenth holiday and after President Donald Trump said he would decide within two weeks whether the U.S. would directly get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict.

These stocks were poised to make moves Friday:

Tesla rose 1.3% in premarket trading, two days before the company's expected launch of its robotaxi service. Democratic lawmakers in Texas have called for Tesla to delay the launch. Two state senators and five state representatives signed a letter addressed to Tesla's director of field quality, Eddie Gates. They asked the electric-vehicle company to delay the robotaxi launch until Sept. 1, when a new self-driving safety law is set to take effect in Texas. Tesla's tentative plan is to begin robotaxi operations in Austin on Sunday, according to CEO Elon Musk.

Shares of GMS Inc. jumped 22% to $98.45 following a report from The Wall Street Journal that said Home Depot has made an offer for the building-products distributor. The exact price Home Depot privately has discussed paying for GMS couldn't be determined, the Journal said. Home Depot's bid follows a proposal from QXO to acquire the GMS for $95.20 a share. QXO said late Wednesday the proposal implies a total value of $5 billion and is a 27% premium over GMS's 60-day volume-weighted average price of $74.82. Home Depot fell 0.5% in premarket trading, while QXO rose 6.5%.

Coinbase was up 2.2% in premarket trading after the cryptocurrency exchange closed up 16% on Wednesday after the Senate passed the Genius Act, a bill to regulate stablecoins, which are most often are pegged to the dollar and backed by reserves. The company introduced Coinbase Payments, which it described as a "stablecoin payments stack designed for commerce platforms." Circle Internet Group was up 16% after soaring 34% on Wednesday.

Mastercard and Visa, meanwhile, each were rising slightly. The two card networks tumbled Wednesday on concerns that merchants have been considering issuing their own stablecoins to customers, a move that could siphon revenue from traditional payments providers.

Smith & Wesson Brands declined 14% after the gunmaker reported weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings as revenue fell 12% to $140.8 million and missed analysts' expectations of $152.4 million. "Fourth quarter proved more difficult than we anticipated largely due to macroeconomic and industry trends," said CEO and President Mark Smith, adding the company continued to see consumers generally being cautious when buying firearms market "due to macro-economic factors pressuring discretionary spending."

Microsoft plans to lay off several thousand employees within weeks. The software giant will cut thousands of jobs in its sales department and other teams from July, although the number isn't final, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Microsoft slipped 0.4% in premarket trading.

Caris Life Sciences, a company that uses artificial-intelligence technology to help develop cancer treatments, rose 1.8% in premarket trading after rising 33% to $28 a share in their trading debut Wednesday. The initial public offering was priced at $21 a share.

Earnings reports are expected Friday from Accenture, Kroger, Darden Restaurants, and CarMax.

Accenture was up 2.8% ahead of fiscal third-quarter earnings from one of the country's biggest consulting companies.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Al Root

Tesla stock was rising early Friday on the last trading day before its expected robotaxi launch.

Shares of the electric vehicle maker were up 1.3% at $326.21 in premarket trading, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were falling 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

Coming into Friday's trading, Tesla stock had risen 35% since the April 22 first-quarter earnings conference call, when management reiterated its plan for a June launch of its robotaxi service.

Earlier this Month, CEO Elon Musk broke the news that June 22 was the target date for the launch of the service.

The launch will be small, with a limited number of cars, and human teleoperators ready to intervene if self-driving cabs run into problems. Investors should also expect the cabs — unmodified recently produced Model Y vehicles — to operate in limited areas.

Starting small won't surprise investors. Most — barring an accident — will be encouraged. Bullish investors expect robotaxis to unlock a new era of earnings growth for Tesla and validate the company's AI investments.

After the launch, investors will start to consider how Tesla's service can scale in Austin and across the country.

Coming into Friday trading, Tesla stock remained down about 25% so far this year and down about $22, or 6%, since Musk and President Donald Trump lashed out at each other on social media. Tesla stock was also up about 74% over the past 12 months.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.