ThinkEquity Partners downgraded shares of Intel Corp (INTC : Intel Corporation INTC 20.62, +0.01, +0.0%) to sell from accumulate, and cut its price target to $16 from $26. The broker believes Intel is building inventories, is losing share -- particularly in servers -- and will likely be negatively impacted by pricing cuts. Intel shares fell 0.8% in the pre-open.
Stock futures got a lift after data showed that U.S. consumer prices increased a larger-than-expected 0.7% in January, led by higher energy, food and housing costs. The core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 0.2%, as expected.