Futures tracking the tech-laden Nasdaq 100 rose on Wednesday, as strong quarterly results from Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) boosted sentiment around technology megacaps, while investors also awaited key data to gauge the strength of the economy and the jobs market.
Shares of Alphabet, the first of the five “Magnificent Seven” mega-cap stocks due to report results this week, leaped 6.3% in premarket trading after the company beat expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit on strength in its cloud business and YouTube ad sales.
“Alphabet’s third-quarter results should put many skeptics’ minds to rest,” said Gerrit Smit, manager of the Stonehage Fleming Global Best Ideas Equity Fund.
“Along with positive surprises on all of the important levels, the most striking feature is that despite its continuing elevated AI capital expenditures, its operating margin has actually increased from 28% to 32%.”
Shares of other megacaps also gained ground, with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) rising 2% and 1.9%, respectively. Both companies are scheduled to report results after the bell.
Given the significant role they played in Wall Street’s rally this year, megacap results will be the most closely watched in an earnings-packed week and are expected to provide insight into whether heavy AI investment is translating into better company performances.
However, futures tracking the S&P 500 were flat and those tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average were lower, as traders assessed a mixed bag of other results.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) slumped 9.3% after missing sales estimates for its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs due to inventory changes.
The ADP National Employment report as well as advance third-quarter gross domestic product figures are due before markets open.
Tuesday’s data showed U.S. job openings dropped to more than a three-and-a-half-year low in September, leading traders to increase bets on a 25-basis-point rate cut in the Federal Reserve’s November as well as December meetings. Economists polled by Reuters echoed the view.
Dow E-minis were down 84 points, or 0.20%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 4.5 points, or 0.08% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 37 points, or 0.18%.
The neck-and-neck race between U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was also at the top of investors’ minds ahead of the November 5 election.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed at an all-time high on Tuesday.
Among companies that reported after Tuesday’s close, shares of semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) dipped 8.3% after its forecasts for fourth-quarter revenue and AI chip sales disappointed investors.
Other chipmakers slipped, with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) down 0.5% and Intel dropping 1.2%.
Reddit (NYSE: RDDT) soared 21.8% after reporting quarterly profit for the first time since going public, while Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) lost 6% after it missed expectations for same-store sales growth.
(Source: Reuters)
