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postTech led US stock futures higher on Thursday as investors waited for Amazon earnings and assessed fresh signals from Alphabet, following a sharp sell-off that hit technology stocks earlier in the day.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F) moved up roughly 0.3%, while those on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) rose 0.5%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F), which includes fewer tech names, hovered just below the flat line.
Wall Street is digesting another batch of corporate earnings, with Big Tech and AI prospects in high focus. Alphabet (GOOG) shares fell 1% in premarket after the Google parent outlined a significant ramp-up in AI investment in its quarterly results. The company projects a rise in spending to as high as $185 billion in 2026.
That outlook helped lift stocks of AI infrastructure-linked companies such as chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), amid renewed optimism around long-term demand tied to the data center buildout. But Qualcomm (QCOM) shares tumbled after the chipmaker issued a softer-than-expected forecast, citing headwinds from a global memory shortage.
Looking ahead, earnings remain in focus, with Amazon (AMZN) taking focus Thursday. Investors will also be watching weekly jobless claims data due in the morning for fresh clues on the health of the labor market.
Software names bore the brunt of a decline Wednesday as Anthropic’s new tools fed concerns about AI disruption to demand for traditional business software.
Crypto markets were also rattled following a comment from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said the government would not bail out bitcoin (BTC-USD) after a slump that has pushed the token to around $71,000 apiece.
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Snap reports upbeat fourth quarter revenue as holiday season boosts ad spending
Snap (SNAP) stock galloped higher after a strong holiday quarter for advertising lifted earnings above Wall Street’s estimates.
Snap stock rose 6% before the bell on Thursday.
For the fourth quarter, the video messaging app reported revenue of $1.71 billion and earnings per share of $0.03. That beat Wall Street estimates of $1.7 billion in revenue and a $0.03 loss per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
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E.l.f. Beauty stock jumps on upbeat profit guidance
E.l.f. Beauty (ELF) demonstrated resilience in the fourth quarter following a difficult 2025, with a strong earnings beat and guidance raise.
The affordable cosmetics manufacturer lifted its full-year 2026 sales outlook to a range of $1.6 billion to $1.61 billion from its previous range of $1.55 billion to $1.57 billion. The company also sees greater earnings per share of $3.05-$3.10, an increase from the previous range of $2.80-$2.85.
The stock soared by as much as 8% in premarket trading on Thursdayas the company looks to regain its footing after higher tariffs and other challenges led the stock to lose 40% in 2025. However, the stock pared some of those gains, perhaps due to lower gross margins amid ongoing tariff costs.
Last year, the company also acquired Hailey Bieber’s Rhode brand.
In the fourth quarter, e.l.f. reported better-than-expected earnings per share of $0.65 versus $0.55 expected by Wall Street analysts. Net sales jumped 38% to $489.5 million, topping estimates of $461 million, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“Our value proposition, powerhouse innovation and disruptive marketing engine continue to fuel our brands,” CEO Tarang Amin said in a statement. “We remain confident in our ability to grow market share and deliver best-in-class growth in beauty, as reflected by our raised fiscal 2026 outlook.”
Read more about e.l.f.’s quarter from Reuters.
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Arm Holdings shares fall as licensing sales miss estimates
Arm Holdings shares fall as licensing sales miss estimates.
From Reuters:
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Broadcom jumps as Alphabet raises its capex forecast
Broadcom stock rose 5% before the bell on Thursday following Alphabet’s capital expenditure news, which surpassed analysts’ expectations.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, forecast 2026 capital expenditures of $180 billion, news which helps Broadcom, which partners with Alphabet on custom chips.
“That is an incredible number. We are laughing because that number is so good for the Google cohort,” Reitzes told CNBC.
Google is not the only company increasing its capex spend to build AI data centers, Oracle is doing the same and raised its forecast to around $50 billion.
Google’s AI software doesn’t just use Nvidia chips, but it also uses its own tensor processing units (TPUs). For Gemini 3, Google used TPUs, which Broadcom helped to make.
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Silver’s sudden 17% plunge wipes out two-day recovery from rout
Bloomberg reports:
Silver (SI=F) fell sharply, wiping out a two-day recovery, as the white metal struggled to find a floor following a historic market rout. Gold (GC=F) also declined.
Spot silver plunged as much as 17% on Thursday, having flickered briefly above $90 an ounce in early Asian trading. After a record-breaking rally that appeared to run too far, too fast, the metal has retreated by more than a third from an all-time high hit on Jan. 29.
“Sentiment seems to have turned soggy across most asset classes, including regional equities and metals,” said Christopher Wong, a strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. This has created “a feedback loop amid thin market liquidity,” he said.
The sudden and sharp decline in precious metals also weighed on sentiment in base metals markets, with copper falling more than 1% to slip below $13,000 a ton. Meanwhile, spot gold dropped as much as 3.5% in choppy trading.
Read more here.
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Qualcomm stock dives as memory chip shortage weighs on financial outlook
Qualcomm (QCOM) stock fell around 11% in premarket trading on Thursday after the chip designer’s results beat on the top and bottom lines but its forecast was lighter than expected. A memory chip shortage stemming from data center developers scooping up chips and chipmakers shifting production to cater to AI demand added pressure to the company’s outlook.
In the fiscal first quarter, the company said revenue increased 5% year over year to $12.3 billion, while earnings per share rose to $2.78. Qualcomm beat analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines, with consensus estimates forecasting $12.1 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $2.75, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
However, the outlook for the fiscal second quarter dimmed as a supply crunch in memory chips weighs on margins and the smartphone market.
Second quarter revenue is expected in the range of $10.2 billion to $11 billion (analysts were looking for $11 billion at the midpoint). Adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.45 to $2.65 (the Street was hoping for $2.87).
“While our near-term handsets outlook is impacted by industry-wide memory supply constraints, we are encouraged by end-consumer demand for premium and high tier smartphones, and remain on track to achieve our fiscal 2029 revenue goals,” Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said in the earnings release.
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Computer makers debate turning to Chinese chip makers to combat supply deficit
Reuters reports:
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Gold returns to over $5,000 after record fall
Bloomberg reports:
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