U.S. stock futures edged higher early Wednesday following a record-setting close on Wall Street, driven by optimism over a potential diplomatic breakthrough involving the Strait of Hormuz.
Reports indicating that U.S. officials believe an agreement with Iran could be close pushed both Brent crude and WTI crude prices lower overnight, easing energy market concerns.
As of 4:00 a.m. ET, Nasdaq futures rose 0.1%, while S&P 500 (SPY) and Russell 2000 futures each gained 0.4%, with Dow futures adding 0.2%.
Economist Ed Yardeni stated that his year-end S&P 500 target of 8,250 now looks “conservative,” citing robust corporate earnings momentum as a key driver.
Retail sentiment tracked on Stocktwits showed improvement, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) climbing from ‘bearish’ to ‘neutral’ and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) flipping to ‘bullish’ from ‘bearish.’
SpaceX (SPCX) dominated premarket conversation after shares plunged 9% despite strong revenue figures, as its exclusive Nvidia GPU partnership and direct-to-cell telecom expansion raised significant capital expenditure questions among investors.
During SpaceX’s earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said there is a “non-zero chance” of reaching $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2030, while also reiterating plans to dramatically expand Starlink V3 satellite deployments.
Musk further warned that memory demand is growing at “200% a year,” calling hardware memory output the primary “limiting factor” for AI expansion, drawing renewed attention to Micron (MU), SanDisk (SNDK), and SK Hynix.
SpaceX’s results rippled across sectors, with telecom stocks including Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile each falling over 2%, while satellite firm AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) saw retail traders turn bullish on potential space partnership opportunities.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares cracked 7% in early premarket trading after the company reported a sharp second-quarter capital expenditure surge to $808 million and disclosed the loss of future satellite AI chip supply to Nvidia.
Palantir (PLTR) fell 2% in premarket trading following a 30% post-earnings surge on Tuesday, with retail chatter rising after Michael Burry posted on X that he wished he had been short “$1 trillion worth of Palantir,” while Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest trimmed its holdings.
Microsoft (MSFT) drew investor attention after 13F filings revealed that Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management completely exited its long position in the software giant while maintaining bearish bets across several semiconductor names.
Rocket Lab USA (RKLB) bucked the broader premarket pressure, with shares rising 4% after the company landed a $397 million Space Force contract.
Silver-linked assets also gained ground, with First Majestic Silver (AG), Hecla Mining (HL), and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) each rising over 3% in early premarket trade as spot silver hit one-month highs.
Paramount Skydance (PSKY) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are facing a 12-day antitrust trial scheduled for March 2, 2027, in California federal court, though Paramount CEO David Ellison expressed full confidence they would win at trial or reach an out-of-court resolution.
Investors are also watching the ADP jobs report, S&P Global Final Services PMI, and ISM Final Services PMI for fresh economic signals Wednesday.
On the earnings front, Walt Disney (DIS), Shopify (SHOP), Uber Technologies (UBER), and Riot Platforms (RIOT) are among companies reporting before the opening bell, with Block (XYZ), IonQ (IONQ), and SoundHound AI (SOUN) set to report after market close.
