Check out the companies making headlines before the market opens. MicroStrategy – Shares of the Bitcoin development company rose more than 5%, extending gains of about 10% in the previous session, as cryptocurrency prices continued to climb. The stock has surged so far this year, rising more than 515%. Chip Equipment Stocks – Chip equipment stocks moved higher on reports that the Biden administration is considering imposing more restrictions on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence memory chips to China, but that they may not be as strict as expected. Shares in U.S. companies Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Corp rose between 1.3% and 2.2%, while Dutch equipment maker ASML rose 1.5% after a Bloomberg report citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. RETAIL STOCK – Major retailers edged higher as Black Friday shopping began. Shares of Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer, rose more than 0.2%, while shares of Target and Costco rose 0.6% and 0.3% respectively. Robinhood – The brokerage rose 3% in premarket, extending its post-election rally after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved startup 24 Exchange to create a 24-hour stock exchange, paving the way for around-the-clock trading. Robinhood, which offers cryptocurrency trading and is seen as a big beneficiary of the incoming Trump administration’s deregulatory plans, saw its shares rise 58% in November to a record high. Zeta Global Holdings – Shares of Zeta Global Holdings rose 5% after the marketing software company’s CEO told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday that recent short-seller reports were “wrong.” As of Wednesday’s close, the stock had fallen 27% in November. —CNBC’s Jesse Pond and Li Yun contributed reporting.
