Trending tickers: Trump Media, WH Smith, GameStop and Inditex

Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT)

Donald Trump's media company was down 15% in pre-market trading, following the latest US presidential debate on Tuesday evening.

Republican candidate Trump and Democratic vice president Kamala Harris clashed on key topics, including the economy and immigration.

Shares in Trump Media have slid in the run up to the election on 5 November, practically erasing gains since the start of the year. A lockup period on the stock is also due to end on 19 September, when Trump and early investors will be allowed to start offloading shares.

Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: European markets mixed as UK GDP stagnates

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “A tense US presidential election debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump only had a limited impact on the markets."

"While polls suggest people’s voting intentions swung more towards Harris as a result of the debate, the election is still going to be a close call," he added.

Wall Street has edged lower in pre-market trading, with S&P futures (ES=F) down 0.4% and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) dipping 0.4%.

WH Smith (SMWH.L)

Shares in the books and stationary retailer surged 10% on Wednesday morning, after it reported group sales were up 7% for the year compared to 2023.

The company said in a trading update that revenue growth was driven by a 10% increase in travel sales, which performed well over its peak trading period in the second half.

WH Smith also said its businesses in North America and the rest of the world continued to show good momentum, with revenues up 6% and 15% respectively for the year.

The company also announced the launch of a £50m share buyback, which group CEO Carl Cowling said reflected "strong ongoing cash flow, the receipt of the pension fund buyout cash return, as well as the strength of our balance sheet, with leverage now within our target range."

Read more: Stocks that are trending today

WH Smith is set to release its preliminary results for the year ending 31 August 2024 on 14 November.

Mould said: "There are also tentative signs of improvement in North America where its travel arm has been stuck in the mud for a long time."

"It’s a good start but WH Smith needs to show it can sustain this momentum if it really wants to prove to the market that its growth story has legs."

GameStop (GME)

Brick-and-mortar video game retailer GameStop eked out a profit in the second quarter, posting net income of $14.8m (£11.3m) in results released after market close on Tuesday. That worked out to earnings per share of $0.04 (3p) and adjusted earnings per share of $0.01.

This was an improvement on the same period last year when it reported a loss of $2.8m.

However, net revenues fell to $798m in the second quarter, compared to the $1.2bn it reported for the same period in 2023.

Read more: UK economy flatlines for a second month in a row

GameStop also revealed that it has $4.2bn worth of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities.

Shares slumped by 11% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, though year-to-date the stock is still up 34%, following a brief resurgence in the meme stock frenzy in May and June.

Inditex (ITX.MC)

Zara-owner Inditex has continued its run of strong results, reporting on Wednesday that net profits rose 10% in the first half of the year to €2.8bn (£2.4bn).

The company said sales increased 7% to €18.1bn in the first half, as spring-summer clothing collections were a hit with customers.

Autumn-winter collections were also already proving to be popular, Inditex said, with sales on a constant currency basis between the beginning of August and September increasing 11% on the same period last year.

The Madrid-listed stock was up 4% on Wednesday morning. Year-to-date, Inditex is up 22%, with shares having reached a record high closing price of €49.40 in August.

Mamta Valechha, consumer discretionary analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said: "By brand, Zara, by far the largest within the group, actually grew the slowest, whilst Bershka and Stradivarius were above average, and Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti somewhere in between."

"Given the historic reliance on Zara, it is good to see other brands under the umbrella delivering growth to the overall business."

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