Amazon (AMZN)

Amazon was higher in pre-market trading after rising over 4% on Thursday’s session as retail bellwether Walmart good results soothe recession fears across markets.

Despite the momentum, Amazon shares are down 15% from a record high of $201.20 (£155.94) reached in July, leaving many investors wondering if it’s time to buy the stock while it is undervalued.

"And just like Meta's (META) sell-off post 1Q24, we believe Amazon's recent stock pullback offers a decent entry point with the fundamental story just as strong as pre-earnings, albeit with expectations reset lower," Bernstein analysts wrote.

Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: European stocks mixed following boost for UK retail sales

The research firm expects strong growth for Amazon's operating income and free cash flow despite lower-than-expected sales for the second quarter.

"The operating income inflection story remains intact with further contribution from robust Amazon Web Services growth, advertising re-acceleration in (second half of 2024) from Prime Video ad ramp, and steady retail margin expansion while prioritising gross profits," the note said.

Amazon has said it has plans to boost spending on AI-related infrastructure for its Amazon Web Services cloud division.

JD.com (JD)

Shares in JD.com were up 3% in pre-market trading after its quarterly profit nearly doubled despite intensifying competition.

The Chinese e-commerce platform’s June-quarter net income rose 92% from a year ago to 12.64bn Chinese yuan (£1.31bn/$1.7bn), helped by price cuts that lured cost-conscious consumers to its platform.

Read more: Stocks that are trending today

JD.com said revenue grew 1.2% to 291.4bn yuan, or $40.7bn. That was ahead of estimates of 291bn yuan, according to FactSet.

“We continued to enhance price competitiveness during the promotional season through our supply chain and disciplined approach, as opposed to reliance on subsidies,” said chief financial officer Ian Su Shan in a statement, adding that gross margins had increased to 15.8% in the quarter.

Bayer (BAYN.DE)

Bayer shares have surged after it secured a court victory in the long running legal battle surrounding its Roundup weed killer.

A three-judge panel rejected a claim by David Schaffner, a Pennsylvania man diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006. Schaffner claimed Bayer violated state law by failing to put a cancer warning on Roundup.

Read more: Binance exec insists bitcoin can recover despite 20% drop

The court ruled that the company could not include the warning in Pennsylvania because of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which requires nationwide uniformity in pesticide labels.