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IBM ( IBM ) down after HashiCorp ( HCP ) deal, disappointing Q1 revenue

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Caterpillar ( CAT ) falls on downbeat Q2 sales forecast

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Futures down: Dow 1.10%, S&P 1.16%, Nasdaq 1.54%

(Updated at 8:47 a.m. ET/1247 GMT)

By Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan

April 25 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks were poised to open sharply lower on Thursday,

dragged down by growth stocks after dour quarterly results from

Meta Platforms ( META ), while signs of persistent inflation dampened

hopes of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates anytime

soon.

Meta plunged 16% in premarket trading after the

Facebook-parent forecast higher expenses and

lighter-than-expected revenue.

Social media firms such as Snap and Pinterest ( PINS )

fell 4.5% and 5.9%, respectively.

Most other growth stocks also came under pressure, with

Alphabet, Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Microsoft ( MSFT )

down between 2.5% and 3.5%.

Alphabet, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Intel ( INTC ) are scheduled to

report their quarterly numbers on Thursday after markets close.

Adding to losses, the Commerce Department's snapshot of

first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) showed 1.6% growth,

against a 2.4% increase forecast by economists polled by

Reuters.

The report showed a 3.7% rise in core PCE prices

advances, against expectations of a 3.4% increase, ahead of the

Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the U.S. central

bank's preferred inflation gauge, on Friday.

"The economy continues to grow, but at a slower pace and

you still have sticky inflation, that just means that the Fed is

not likely to cut in June and a big question mark for the

remainder of the year," said Peter Cardillo, chief market

economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

Separately, a Labor Department report showed the number

of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits stood

at 207,000 in the week ended April 20, against a consensus

forecast of 215,000.

Yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose after

the data, last standing at 4.7102%.

Money markets are pricing in just about 36 basis points

of rate cuts from the Fed this year, down from about 150 bps

seen at the start of the year, according to LSEG data.

At 8:47 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 424 points,

or 1.1%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 59.25 points, or

1.16%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 271.5 points, or

1.54%.

Downbeat results from other companies also weighed on

equities.

International Business Machines ( IBM ) dropped 9.4% after

the firm said it will buy HashiCorp ( HCP ) in a deal valued at

$6.4 billion, and as its first-quarter revenue missed estimates.

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) slid 8% after slashing its

estimates for new aircraft deliveries from Boeing ( BA ) in 2024

for the third time, saying it plans to undertake cost-cutting

measures to ease the resultant blow.

Caterpillar ( CAT ) lost 5.6% after the company said it

expects sales to fall in the second quarter as demand for its

construction equipment eases from last year's boom.

On the bright side, Royal Caribbean Group gained

3.1% after the cruise operator raised its annual profit forecast

for a second time.

Ford gained 1.4% as the automaker's first-quarter

earnings beat Wall Street's expectations.