Stock Futures Rise on Positive Earnings From Amex, Qualcomm

Stock futures moved higher on Thursday after a string of positive earnings reports from the likes of American Express (AXP) and Qualcomm (QCOM) .

S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures climbed 0.3%.

American Express moved nearly 2% higher in premarket trading following a first-quarter earnings beat. The credit card company reported earnings of $1.34 a share on revenue of $7.9 billion. Analysts anticipated $1.28 a share in earnings on sales of roughly $7.7 billion. Excluding its Costco-related revenue, adjusted sales came in 7% higher than a year earlier.

Travelers (TRV) reported a drop in quarterly profit as catastrophe losses rose over the first quarter. The insurance company earned net income of $2.17 a share over its recent quarter, down from $2.30 a share a year earlier and below estimates of $2.37 a share. CEO Alan Schnitzer said the company saw "unusually high first quarter catastrophe losses that arose from a record number of tornado and hail events."

Railway operator CSX (CSX) added 3% after exceeding analysts' estimates on its top- and bottom-lines. Earnings of 51 cents a share topped consensus by 8 cents. Revenue climbed nearly 10% to $2.87 billion, $110 million above estimates.

eBay (EBAY) fell 1% after earnings and sales came in largely in-line with estimates. The auction site earned 49 cents a share, just a penny higher than expected. Revenue rose 3.7% to $2.22 billion, meeting analysts' consensus. eBay said total global active buyers surged by 2 million over the first quarter to 169 million.

Qualcomm added 2% in premarket trading following better-than-expected earnings and sales over its fiscal second quarter. Per-share earnings of $1.34 a share beat expectations of $1.19, while revenue of $5.99 billion came in higher than analysts' targets of $5.89 billion. Qualcomm's third-quarter profit guidance of 90 cents to $1.15 a share bracketed estimates of $1.09.

The chipmaker is currently embroiled in two different lawsuits over high patent fees, including a $1 billion claim against it by Apple (AAPL) . The company, which is one of Apple's suppliers, said it is not clear whether Apple's contract manufacturers will underpay royalties owed under their contracts this quarter.