US Stock Futures Down As Investors Await Earnings Reports, Cisco Drops In Pre-Market Trading

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings reports from many companies. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 49 points to 12,158.00 and S&P 500 futures dropped 7.90 points at 1,311.30. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 index dipped 21.75 points to 2,340.50.

US stocks closed mixed, with the Dow gaining 0.06% to close at 12,240 on Wednesday. However, downbeat remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pushed other indexes down.

Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Shares of Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ: WFMI) jumped about 10% in pre-market trading after the company raised its 2011 projections for profit and sales. WFMI reported 61% y/y surge in its quarterly net income. The company's earnings came in at $0.51 per share. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.46 per share. The company's sales advanced 14% to $3 billion. Whole Foods lifted its FY11 earnings guidance from $1.66 to $1.71 per share to $1.76 to $1.80 per share.

Shares of Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) dropped about 5% in pre-market trading after the group lowered its key profitability estimates.

Shares of Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) dipped about 8.5% in pre-market trading after the company reported disappointing gross margin. CSCO reported its FQ2 net income at $1.52 billion, or $0.27 per share, down from $1.85 billion, or $0.32 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's earnings on a non-GAAP basis came in at $0.37 per share. The company's revenue increased 6% to $10.4 billion. However, analysts expected earnings of $0.35 per share on revenue of $10.3 billion. CSCO's revenue in the key switching unit dropped 7% for the same period. The company's gross margin for the period dropped to 62.4%, compared with analysts' projections of 63.3%.

Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT) is expected to post its earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $13.47 billion in fourth quarter. Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) is expected to post a Q4 loss of $0.30 per share on revenue of $8.16 billion. PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.04 on revenue of $17.64 billion.

Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL) is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $1.01 on revenue of $789.75 million. Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.96 per share on revenue of $7.27 billion. Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.36 on revenue of $802.31 million.

Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.81%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.86%.

Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.11%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.13% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.59%.

The dollar gained about 0.4% versus the Japanese yen, while the euro fell 0.6% to $1.3642.

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