U.S. stock-index futures retreated, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will extend this week’s drop, as Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) reported results that trailed estimates and investors awaited data on economic growth. Amazon lost 1.3 percent in early New York trading as the biggest online retailer’s revenue missed estimates. Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s largest company by market value, increased 0.3 percent even after its forecasts for profit and revenue fell short of predictions. Expedia Inc. surged 17 percent after earnings topped analysts’ projections. Futures on the S&P 500 (SPX) expiring in December declined 0.8 percent to 1,397.4 at 7:20 a.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities hasn’t closed below 1,400 since August. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 94 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,962 today. “We’ve had a number of profit warnings in many industries and earnings aren’t as good as expected,� said Clemence Bounaix, who helps oversee about $2 billion at KBL Richelieu Gestion in Paris. “That wasn’t priced into the market and that’s why shares have fallen so much.� The S&P 500 has declined 1.4 percent this week amid concern about a worsening earnings picture. The index is still up 12 percent this year on speculation central bankers will keep economies expanding. Earnings Season Merck & Co. (MRK), the maker of the Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine, and cable provider Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) are companies reporting results today. Third-quarter earnings at about 72 percent of the index’s companies have beaten analysts’ estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales missed forecasts at 59 percent of companies, the data show. A Commerce Department report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington may show the U.S. economy expanded at a faster pace in the third quarter as a gain in consumer spending offset a slump in business investment. Gross domestic product rose at a 1.8 percent annual rate after growing at a 1.3 percent pace the prior quarter, according to the median forecast of 86 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It would be the first back-to-back readings lower than 2 percent since the U.S. began emerging from recession in 2009. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment is due at 9:55 a.m. New York time. The gauge jumped to 83 in October, the highest level since September 2007, according to a Bloomberg survey. Amazon, Expedia Amazon fell 1.3 percent to $220.02. The online retailer reported its first quarterly loss since 2003, hurt by higher expenses and its investment in LivingSocial.com. The company posted a third-quarter net loss of $274 million, or 60 cents a share, compared with net income of $63 million, or 14 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 27 percent to $13.8 billion, Amazon said. That compared with the $13.9 billion average analyst projection compiled by Bloomberg. Apple rose 0.3 percent to $611.48 in New York. The company said profit rose to $8.22 billion, or $8.67 a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter. That compares with $8.3 billion, or $8.75 a share, the average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Apple’s sales and profit forecasts for the current quarter also fell short of predictions. Merck slipped 0.5 percent $46.07 in Germany. The drugmaker reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 95 cents. That compares with an estimate of 93 cents per share. Expedia, Comcast Expedia (EXPE) surged 17 percent to $60 in New York after the second-biggest online travel agency by market value reported third-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Excluding some items, profit rose 4.2 percent to $188 million, or $1.32 a share, from $180.5 million, or $1.28, a year earlier, the Bellevue, Washington-based company said late yesterday. Analysts on average expected profit to decline to $1.26 a share, according to a Bloomberg survey. Comcast advanced 0.5 percent to $36.55 in pre-market New York trading. The largest U.S. cable company and the majority owner of NBC said third-quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by advertising revenue, the sale of assets and a decrease in the loss of subscribers. To contact the reporter on this story: Adria Cimino in Paris at acimino1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net

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