5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday, February 17

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

U.S. stock futures dropped Thursday as NATO accused Russia of adding forces at the Ukraine border not reducing them. Wall Street was also digesting strong earnings from two Dow stocks and mixed economic reports.

Walmart topped quarterly estimates on earnings and revenue Thursday after shoppers turned to the retailer for groceries and gifts over the holidays. Walmart said it’s focused on value as some customers grow nervous about rising inflation. The company said it’s on track to hit its long-term growth targets, which called for adjusted earnings per share growth in the mid-single digits. Dow stock Walmart rose roughly 2% in the premarket after the release. Walmart said it raised its dividend by a penny to 56 cents per share, and plans to repurchase $10 billion worth of stock in the current fiscal year.

Nvidia fell around 2.5% in the premarket after issuing late Wednesday a strong outlook that failed to impress an investor base accustomed to rosy guidance from the graphics processor giant. However, the company did report better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue.

DoorDash surged about 22% in Thursday’s premarket, the morning after it issued upbeat forward guidance along with a 69% jump in full-year revenue. For the quarter, revenue was also a slight beat. DoorDash’s per-share quarterly loss, however, was wider than expected.

California officials are set to unveil Thursday a plan for coexisting with Covid, entering the endemic stage when a virus still exists in the community but becomes manageable as immunity builds. In fact, one influential model estimates that 73% of Americans are, for now, immune to omicron, the dominant variant, and that could rise to 80% by mid-March. Shifting its focus to Covid hospitalizations as a key measure of the severity of the outbreak and future recommendations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it’s reviewing its mask guidance.