Goldman Sachs, Netflix, Tesla - 5 Things You Must Know Before the Market Opens

Here are five things you must know for Tuesday, April 17:

1. -- Stocks Climb

U.S. stock futures pointed to gains for Wall Street on Tuesday, April 17, as investors reacted to a mixed set of economic data from China and continued to focus on corporate earnings season.

Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148 points, while those linked to the broader S&P 500 gained 13.50 points. Futures for the Nasdaq were up 34 points.

Asian stocks finished Tuesday's session mixed following China's stronger-than-expected first quarter GDP reading of 6.8%, which was boosted by solid consumer spending. Investors, however, focused on a weaker-than-anticipated reading for manufacturing activity in March in the world's second-largest economy.

Stocks in the U.S. rose on Monday, April 16, as concerns over prolonged military action in Syria faded and the focus for investors shifted to earnings.

The Dow finished up 212 points, or 0.87%, to 24,573, the S&P 500 rose 0.81% and the Nasdaq rose 0.70%.

The U.S. economic calendar on Tuesday includes Housing Starts for March at 8:30 a.m. ET, and Industrial Production for March at 9:15 a.m.

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2. -- Goldman Sachs, UnitedHealth and Johnson & Johnson Report Earnings

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) posted modestly weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings Tuesday but lifted its full-year outlook as revenue topped Wall Street forecasts. The stock fell slightly in premarket trading.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) ,posted first-quarter adjusted profit of $2.06 a share, higher than estimates of $2. Revenue in the quarter rose 12.6% to $20.01 billion and also topped forecasts. Shares were flat in premarket trading.

Earnings are also expected Tuesday from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) , United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) , International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) , CSX Corp. (CSX) and Comerica Inc. (CMA) .

UnitedHealth and Goldman Sachs are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells the stocks? Learn more now.

3. -- Netflix Surges on Subscriber Gains

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) jumped 7.4% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the streaming giant posted impressive subscriber growth in its first-quarter earnings report, and also beat earnings and revenue expectations.

Netlfix said revenue for the three months ended in March rose 40% from the same period last year to a record $3.7 billion, helping net income surge 62.8% to $290.1 million, or 64 cents a share, easily topping Wall Street's forecasts. Netflix also said it added 1.96 million U.S. and 5.46 million international streaming subscribers, beating the consensus estimates of 1.5 million and 5 million, respectively, the highest readings since the company went public in May 2002.

Growth was forecast to slow somewhat in the second quarter but still remain strong: Netflix guided for 1.2 million U.S. and 5 million international net subscriber additions, above consensus estimates of 973,000 and 4.27 million, respectively.

Watch TheStreet's Executive Editor Brian Sozzi break down the Netflix results below.

Netflix is a beastttttttttttt $NFLX https://t.co/oSyMqmM1W7
— Brian Sozzi (@BrianSozzi) April 16, 2018

4. -- Tesla Suspends Production of Model 3

Shares of Tesla Inc. (TSLA) fell 1.5% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the electric carmaker said it would temporarily suspend production of its Model 3 sedan in order to address "bottlenecks" at its plant in Fremont, Calif.

The move, which was first reported by Buzzfeed and later confirmed by the company, marked the second time Tesla has halted Model 3 production this year. The halt in production could raise further questions as to whether the company will be able to meet its aggressive assembly targets and generate the kind of revenue it will need to become cash flow positive in the coming quarters, something Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk said last week was imminent.

"These periods are used to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates," a Tesla spokesman said. "This is not unusual and is in fact common in production ramps like this."

TheStreet has been critical of Tesla's Elon Musk. Watch the latest below.

5. -- Matthew Mellon, Billionaire Banking Heir, Dies

Billionaire banking heir Matthew Mellon died. He was 54.

Mellon, who comes from the Mellon and Drexel families of Bank of New York Mellon and Drexel Burnham Lambert, had struggled with drug addiction, and reports said he died at a rehabilitation center in Cancun, Mexico.

Mellon most recently served as an adviser for digital currency company Ripple Labs, according to the Associated Press.

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