5 things to know before the stock market opens on Wednesday

Happy Wednesday. In addition to Disney’s Josh D’Amaro, another top dog was announced yesterday. Penny the Doberman Pinscher won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Stock futures are rising this morning. The market is emerging from a negative session.

Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.

disney Officially, a new CEO is in the works. The entertainment giant announced that D’Amaro, who runs its fast-growing Experiences business, will succeed CEO Bob Iger on March 18.

Here’s what you need to know:

D’Amaro was selected for the role after nearly 30 years in the Mouse House. He will be the eighth CEO of the company, which has been in business for more than a century. The 54-year-old most recently served as chairman of Disney’s Experiences division, which includes parks and cruises. The company announced earlier this week that the division’s quarterly sales reached $10 billion for the first time. It would also be a happy ending for Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden, who was considered the other top CEO candidate in the hotly anticipated succession saga. She will become Disney’s president and creative chief, reporting directly to D’Amaro. Prior to the announcement, the media had widely indicated that Mr. D’Amaro would take the role, and Wall Street showed little surprise at the decision. Disney shares fell in yesterday’s trading, extending losses seen earlier in the week after the California-based company released its financial results. Mr. D’Amaro is on a bit of a tailspin in the public markets: Disney stock is up 40% over the past five years, which is significantly lower than last year, while the S&P 500 is up more than 80%.

chipotle pepper Shares fell more than 5% after the burrito chain reported a fourth consecutive quarter of declining traffic. This overshadowed the narrow beats of both lines during this period.

The fast-casual chain also announced a 1.7% drop in same-store sales in 2025, the first annual sales decline since 2016. Recovery may not be immediate: Chipotle said it expects same-store sales to be flat in 2026.

Chipotle is coming off a tough patch, with its stock price down nearly 33% over the past 12 months. As CNBC’s Amelia Lucas points out, the California-based company is trying to lure consumers back to its stores by rolling out “protein cups” and aiming for price increases that are slower than inflation.

President Donald Trump yesterday signed legislation reopening the federal government, which has been partially shut down since Saturday. The deal, which the House narrowly passed earlier in the day, provides funding to multiple departments through the end of the fiscal year.

But the deal only provides the Department of Homeland Security with two weeks of stopgap funding. Congress and the White House will have to return to the negotiating table to decide what to do with DHS, which has come under intense scrutiny following the killings of two Americans by federal immigration agents in Minnesota.

Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., CNBC confirmed yesterday that Federal Reserve Chairman Stephen Milan will be stepping down as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Millan has been on a leave of absence from CEA since being appointed by President Trump to replace Adrianna Kugler, whose term had not yet expired, following the latter’s sudden resignation.

novo nordisk announced yesterday that it expects sales and profit growth to decline this year. The weak outlook caused U.S.-listed stocks to fall more than 14% in Tuesday trading, their worst day in nearly six months.

The company’s total sales are expected to take a hit because of the price cut agreement with the Trump administration. The loss of exclusivity for the company’s popular drugs Wigovy and Ozempic in some countries is also expected to be a headwind for Novo. The stock fell further in pre-market trading this morning after CEO Mike Doesder warned on CNBC’s “Early Edition Europe” that the company’s situation will get worse before it gets better.

on the other hand, Eli Lilly Shares rose more than 8% in pre-market trading today after the company beat analyst expectations in both areas of the company’s fourth quarter. The pharmaceutical giant’s full-year earnings outlook was also better than expected as demand for Zepbound and Mounjaro surged.

In an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer that aired yesterday, he said: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismissed reports of tension between the chipmaker and OpenAI. In September, Nvidia announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in the AI ​​company.

CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo, Sarah Witten, Li Ying Xiang, Chloe Taylor, Sean Conlon, Jacob Plamuk, Amelia Lucas, Garrett Downs, Jeff Cox, Steve Reisman, Darla Mercado, Elsa Oren, Annika Kim Constantino and Kiff Lethwing contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.