Stock futures ticked higher on Wednesday morning, as investors looked toward a key earnings report from tech giant Nvidia.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up by 67 points, or about 0.15%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.12%, while Nasdaq 100 futures inched higher by 0.09%.
In after-hours action, shares of Comcast rose more than 2%. The telecommunications giant is expected to announce on Wednesday a spin off of its cable networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, a source familiar told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin on Tuesday. The separation is expected to take roughly a year. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
During regular trading on Tuesday, shares of Nvidia advanced nearly 5% as investors anticipated the chip company’s latest results. The jump in Nvidia shares helped lift the Nasdaq Composite to a 1% gain and the S&P 500 to a 0.4% advance.
Investors are looking for more than just third-quarter earnings beats from Nvidia on Wednesday afternoon. They want details on demand for Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chips, which CEO Jensen Huang last month characterized as “insane.” How the semiconductor giant fares – given its market capitalization of $3.6 trillion – could set the tone for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite for the rest of the week.
“Recently I’ve been sort of inclined to look for the broadening trade and fade some of these big names,” RBC Capital Markets head of U.S. equity strategy Lori Calvasina said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Fast Money.” “What I am generally seeing in my data is that even though the value trade fights back, the megacap growth names keep coming back and showing their earnings dominance.”
On the earnings front, investors are also awaiting results from retailers Target and TJX. Both companies are set to report on Wednesday morning.
Investors will also listen for commentary from Federal Reserve Governors Lisa Cook and Michelle Bowman, as well as Boston Fed President Susan Collins.
— Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Check out some of the companies making headlines in extended trading:
- Keysight Technologies — Shares added more than 8%. The electronics test and measurement equipment company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results beat analysts’ estimates on the top and bottom lines. Keysight also issued a rosy outlook for the current quarter, anticipating adjusted earnings ranging from $1.65 to $1.71 per share, while analysts polled by FactSet called for $1.57 in earnings per share.
- Dolby Laboratories — The audio technology company advanced 10% after its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 61 cents per share topped Street estimates of 45 cents per share, per FactSet. Dolby also increased its dividend by 10% to 33 cents a share.
- Powell Industries — The manufacturer of electrical equipment slipped almost 14%. Net new orders for fiscal 2024 came in at $1.1 billion, compared to $1.4 billion in the year-ago period. The company noted that the decline was largely due to the inclusion of three large megaprojects in Powell’s oil and gas and petrochemical sectors in fiscal 2023.
Read the full list here.
— Brian Evans
Comcast is moving forward a plan to spin off its cable channels
Comcast is moving forward with a plan to spin off its cable channels including MSNBC and CNBC, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
— Brian Evans
Stocks futures open little changed
Stock futures were little changed on Tuesday, with investors looking toward a key earnings report from Nvidia.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 12 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures hovered near the flatline, alongside Nasdaq 100 futures.
— Brian Evans