Before the Bell | Facebook revenue slows but user gains boost stock

Stock futures jumped in early trading Thursday as the market tried to recover some of the ground lost during this month's sell-off, and investors reacted positively to earnings from $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$.

Futures on the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ added 290 points or 0.87%. $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ futures gained 1.45% and $NASDAQ 100 Index (.NDX.US)$ futures jumped 2.04%.

The London-based lender on Thursday said it earned £1.4 billion, equivalent to $1.8 billion, in the three months to the end of March, down from £1.7 billion in the same period last year. Analysts expected the bank to report a £1.55 billion profit for the quarter, according to FactSet. The bank's compiled forecasts projected £1.32 billion. Revenue increased 10% to £6.5 billion. $Barclays (BCS.US)$

The user numbers were a surprise for the tech giant. In the wake of poor earnings results from other digital-ad rivals earlier this week, investors had feared the worst; and on Wednesday they pushed Meta shares up more than 16% in premarket trading after the results were announced. $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$

The tweets from Mr. Musk, who has an outsize presence on $Twitter (Delisted) (TWTR.US)$, with more than 80 million followers, prompted online attacks toward Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's longtime head of legal, policy and safety. Mr. Musk's critique escalated despite an agreement as part of the takeover deal not to disparage the company or the people who work there.

The Suwon, South Korea-based company is considered an industry bellwether as it's a major electronics maker as well as a component supplier for major tech companies such as $Apple (AAPL.US)$. Samsung's first-quarter results topped analyst expectations. The prior quarterly revenue record, of 76.6 trillion won, had been set in the October-December period of last year.

After Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed lawmakers to pass a bill to eliminate $Disney (DIS.US)$'s special tax benefits in Florida, the company, which boasts one of the largest and most influential lobbying teams in the state, crafted a new strategy: Keep its mouth shut.

$Ford Motor (F.US)$ swung to a net loss of $3.1 billion in the first quarter, a reversal largely driven by a steep loss in valuation of its stake in electric-vehicle startup $Rivian Automotive (RIVN.US)$.