U.S. stock futures held in a tight range early Thursday as investors pivoted their attention to fresh inflation and labor market data after July’s CPI report did little to shake Fed rate expectations.
As of 4:00 a.m. ET, Nasdaq futures were flat with a negative bias, while S&P 500 and Dow futures were flat with a positive bias, and Russell 2000 futures gained 0.1%.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained “neutral” on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and “bearish” on the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index.
CoreWeave (CRWV) dropped 2% in early premarket trade after a stellar rally the prior session, which followed a strong Q2 earnings print that impressed Wall Street.
The company’s CFO noted that older-generation Nvidia A100 units are fully leased through 2029, underscoring persistent demand across its infrastructure base.
Nebius Group (NBIS) fell 4% in early premarket trading even after the company raised its FY26 contracted capacity guidance to 5 GW, with management saying it could sell its entire 2027 capacity at current terms but is holding some back for higher-value near-term demand.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) pulled back 6% in premarket despite beating fiscal Q4 earnings and signaling that AI orders should be “meaningfully higher” in fiscal 2027, a forecast that failed to satisfy investors expecting more.
Cerebras Systems (CBRS) saw shares crack 16% in early premarket trade despite raising its full-year guidance, as traders weighed a Q2 net loss against near-term valuation expansion concerns.
Michael Burry is adding to the AI skepticism debate after reportedly shorting Nebius, Micron (MU), Oracle, and the semiconductor ETF SOXX, saying the AI boom is approaching a downturn.
Apple (AAPL) is opening a new manufacturing center in Houston Thursday as part of its previously announced $600 billion U.S. investment push, while the company is also reportedly negotiating multiyear licensing agreements with publishers to supply news content for an AI-powered Siri.
Anthropic is reportedly in talks to acquire AI startup Decart for about $6 billion, which would potentially be its largest acquisition yet as AI labs shift focus toward cheaper compute resources rather than simply adding more chips.
Space stocks continued to attract heavy retail attention following a Goldman Sachs Global Institute report naming space “a new pillar of the industrial economy,” lifting sentiment across the sector.
SpaceX (SPCX) shares held steady in early premarket, adding to nearly 40% gains over five trading days, with momentum building ahead of its second tranche of lockup expiration on August 20.
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) is in focus after raising over $1 billion to explore vertical integration into launch operations, even as analysts caution over high valuation multiples and constellation deployment timelines.
Ondas Holdings (ONDS) breached the $10 mark for the first time in months on Wednesday ahead of its Q2 earnings report Thursday, drawing significant retail interest on Stocktwits.
Wendy’s (WEN) shares are in focus after reports emerged that Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is assembling a consortium to submit a take-private bid for the burger chain, with retail bulls speculating a $12-$17 buyout offer.
Netflix (NFLX) is generating buzz after Bill Ackman disclosed a renewed position in the streamer, coming years after taking a roughly $400 million loss on the stock in 2022, as he now believes the company has won the streaming wars and can compound earnings through revenue growth, margin expansion, and buybacks.
On the economic calendar, investors will be watching the release of jobless claims and the producer price index at 8:30 a.m. ET, with a soft reading potentially reinforcing the case for a patient Fed while a hotter print could revive inflation concerns and pressure the AI trade.
On the earnings front, Applied Materials (AMAT), Intuitive Machines (LUNR), Ondas (ONDS), Lithium Americas (LAC), and Paysafe (PSFE) are among the companies reporting Thursday.
