U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday, led by those tied to the Nasdaq, as investors cheered streaming giant Netflix's strong quarterly performance and President Donald Trump's multi-billion dollar support to bolster AI infrastructure.
Market Snapshot
At 8:45 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 124 points, or 0.28%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 29 points, or 0.48%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 199 points, or 0.92%.
Pre-Market Movers
Netflix posted fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts' estimates and reported 18.9 million paid net additions in the period, the company's biggest quarter of net adds in its history and well above forecasts of 9.77 million. Fourth-quarter revenue was $10.25 billion, better than analysts' expectations of $10.1 billion, and the company slightly raised its revenue guidance for 2025. Netflix also said its ad-supported tier will cost $7.99 a month, up from $6.99, while the cost of the company's premium tier will rise by $2 to $24.99. Shares of the streaming giant were jumping 15%.
Oracle rose 8.7% after the software company, along with ChatGPT maker OpenAI and SoftBank Group, announced an investment of as much as $500 billion in building artificial-intelligence infrastructure in the U.S. The joint venture, known as Stargate, will build data centers for OpenAI.
Shares of small-cap energy stocks, nuclear power firms jump premarket after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a flurry of orders intended to boost energy production after his inauguration on Monday. US Energy stock soared 28% after a 63% rally in prior session.
The announcement of the venture was lifting other AI-related stocks. Nvidia, the leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips, rose 3%, and chip designer Arm Holdings gained 5.9%.
Separately, Nvidia surpassed Apple as the largest U.S. company by market cap on Tuesday. Nvidia closed with a market cap of $3.449 trillion versus Apple's $3.348 trillion, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Quantum computing stocks continued to pop as investors mulled President Donald Trump's first moves, including an executive order that eased artificial intelligence regulation. Many tech industry pundits expect long-range synergy between artificial intelligence, which requires enormous computing power, and quantum computing.
Shares of Rigetti Computing up 5%. QUANTUM CORP up 6%; D-Wave Quantum Inc. up 7%.
Property and casualty insurer Travelers beat estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, as strength in its underwriting business cushioned a blow from elevated catastrophe losses. Shares of the company rose 5.6% before the bell.
Procter & Gamble beat second-quarter sales estimates on Wednesday, as the Pantene shampoo maker's efforts to bring newer versions of its products to the market across various price tiers attracted more customers in the United States. Shares of the Tide detergent maker rose over 3% in premarket trading.
Fourth-quarter earnings and revenue at United Airlines were better than expected and the carrier said it anticipates first-quarter adjusted profit of 75 cents to $1.25 a share, compared with analysts' estimates of 53 cents. The stock was up 3.6%.
Johnson & Johnson reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.04 a share, topping estimates of $1.99, on revenue of $22.5 billion, which was slightly ahead of consensus of $22.4 billion. The company said it expects operational adjusted earnings in 2025 of between $10.75 and $10.95 a share, and reported adjusted earnings of between $10.50 and $10.80. Analysts expect $10.55 a share. The stock fell 0.4%.
GE Vernova fell 6.7% after the energy technology provider reported fourth-quarter sales of $10.6 billion, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, of $1.1 billion. Wall Street had been looking for sales of $10.7 billion, and Ebitda of $1.1 billion.
Seagate Technology, the data storage company, posted fiscal second-quarter earnings of $2.03 a share, better than analysts' expectations of $1.88 and an improvement from year-earlier adjusted earnings of 12 cents. Revenue jumped 50% in the period to $2.33 billion. CEO Dave Mosley said Seagate was "advancing our technology roadmap to meet our customers' growing need for scalable, cost efficient and sustainable storage solutions in the age" of artificial intelligence. The stock rose 5.3%.
Market News
Trump Threatens 10% Tariff on China, Cites Trade Deficit With EU
President Donald Trump widened his tariff threats to include China and the European Union on his second day back in office after day one saw Canada and Mexico in his sights.
“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China, based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” Trump said during an event at the White House on Tuesday, specifying Feb. 1 as a possible date.
Project Stargate Likely Be Start of Massive AI Investments in US: Analysts
The announcement of Project Stargate by President Trump is likely to usher in an era of "massive" artificial intelligence investments in the U.S., though the broader implications may not be known for some time, analysts said.
"We believe this is the start of a wave of massive AI investments to take place in the US as we expect more big tech players to make announcements over the coming weeks," Wedbush Securities analysts wrote in a note to clients.
