Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 4, 2022.
Source: NYSE
Stock futures rose Thursday, boosted by a jump in Nvidia shares as the chip giant posted record revenue and issued upbeat guidance.
S&P 500 futures climbed 1.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 2.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 152 points, or 0.4%.
Nvidia shares popped about 13% in the premarket after the chip company said total revenue rose a whopping 265% from a year ago, driven by its booming artificial intelligence business. Nvidia, which has become the fifth-largest company in the U.S. by market capitalization, also forecast another stellar revenue gain for the current quarter, even against elevated expectations for massive growth.
AI enthusiasm has powered the jaw-dropping rally in Nvidia, along with other Big Tech names, over the past year. The chipmaker’s blowout quarter could further boost confidence in the space that has benefited the broader market.
“Bears tried to hit NVDA and sell the news, but there isn’t much to dislike in this report,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. “There’s potentially a lot of growth ahead for this company with years of AI investment expected.”
The Nasdaq Composite could see a rebound from its three-day losing streak on Thursday. So far this week, the tech-heavy index has lost more than 1%.
On Thursday, investors will not only be watching for further corporate earnings, but also for weekly jobless claims data and existing home sales figures from January. Markets were mixed Wednesday as investors digested minutes from the January Federal Reserve meeting that indicated policymakers were concerned over lowering rates too quickly.
Moderna shares pop after Q4 report
Shares of Moderna were up more than 5% in the premarket after the vaccine maker posted a greater-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter. The company’s top line registered at $2.81 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG had forecast a print of $2.50 billion. Moderna also reported a surprise profit, boosted in part by deferred revenue.
MRNA pops
— Fred Imbert
Japan’s Nikkei crosses 39,000 as robust earnings, investor-friendly measures drive risk-on sentiment
Japan’s Nikkei 225 hit a record high Thursday, powered by banking, electronics and consumer stocks as robust earnings and investor-friendly measures fuel a blistering rally in Japanese equities this year.
The Nikkei 225 jumped nearly 2% to hit 39,029, surpassing the previous record high of 38,915.87 reached in 1989.
Both the Nikkei and the broader Topix have been standout outperformers in Asia Pacific, up more than 10% so far this year after surging more than 25% in 2023 — their respective best annual gains in at least a decade.
—Clement Tan
Nikkei adds nearly 2%, powered by banking, electronics and consumer stocks
Japan’s Nikkei 225 led gains in Asia, briefly surpassing its1989 all-time high, powered by a mix of banking, electronics and consumer stocks.
The index climbed 1.92% on Thursday, with Aozora Bank being the biggest gainer, up 8.21%.
Electronics company Furukawa Electric and petrochemical firm Resonac Holdings rose 4.7% and 3.97% respectively.
Other index heavyweights were also in the green. Tokyo Electron advanced 5.74%, while Softbank gained 5.33%. Fast Retailing rose 2.41%.
—Lee Ying Shan
Shares of EV players Lucid and Rivian drop
Shares of Lucid Group slid nearly 7% in extended trading after the electric vehicle company posted a revenue miss as losses widened. Lucid reported revenue of $157 million in the latest quarter, lower than an LSEG, formerly Refinitiv, estimate of $180 million.
Rivian Automotive‘s stock plunged 13% after the company reported steep losses and said it would cut 10% of its salaried workforce. Rivian expects EV production this year to be far lower than Wall Street expected, hurt by downtime for factory upgrades and slowing demand for EVs due to high interest rates.
— Yun Li
Nvidia’s Data Center business is up more than 400%
Nvidia’s closely watched Data Center business logged $18.4 billion in fourth-quarter sales, up 409% from the same period in the previous year.
The segment includes the company’s H100 graphics cards that are widely used to power generative artificial intelligence apps such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Nvidia’s data center unit has blossomed, particularly over the past three quarters. It’s the current market leader for supplying computer chips used for AI research and products.
— Yun Li, Jonathan Vanian
