United States equity futures edged lower on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT) ahead of a closely watched earnings report from chip giant Nvidia, with investors reassessing technology valuations amid heightened scrutiny of artificial intelligence spending.
By 10:20 am AEDT (11:20 pm GMT), futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq-100 were each down around 0.1%.
In extended trading, shares in electric vehicle maker Lucid Group fell 4.5% after the company reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss of $3.08 per share versus losses of $2.67 expected, despite posting revenue growth that exceeded forecasts.
Human resources software provider Workday dropped 9.2% after guiding for first-quarter subscription revenue of $2.34 billion, marginally below market expectations of $2.35 billion, according to LSEG data.
Online real estate marketplace operator CoStar Group slid 6.9% after issuing weaker-than-expected first-quarter guidance.
By contrast, Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava Group gained 8.7% after posting stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results and issuing an upbeat fiscal 2026 outlook.
Solar technology company First Solar fell 12.6% after reporting disappointing earnings and issuing soft full-year guidance. Fourth-quarter earnings per share came in at $4.84, below expectations of $5.14, although revenue of $1.68 billion exceeded forecasts of $1.57 billion.
The muted futures session follows solid gains on Wall Street during regular trading on Tuesday, as concerns about artificial intelligence disruption across multiple sectors eased. The S&P 500 rose nearly 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced about 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 370 points, or roughly 0.8%.
A key driver of the rally was a near 9% surge in Advanced Micro Devices, after Meta Platforms announced a multiyear agreement with the chipmaker.
The partnership will see Meta deploy substantial AMD processing capacity to power its AI data centre expansion.
Software and cybersecurity stocks also staged a relief rally after artificial intelligence research group Anthropic unveiled new connectors and plug-ins for its Claude Cowork platform.
The enhancements allow companies to integrate the AI tool with existing applications such as Google Drive, helping to calm fears that generative AI would rapidly displace incumbent software providers.
Attention now turns to Nvidia’s quarterly results, which are expected to provide fresh insight into demand for AI chips and data centre infrastructure.
Earnings from software heavyweights Salesforce and Snowflake are also due after Wednesday’s market close (Thursday AEDT).
Beyond corporate earnings, geopolitical and trade developments remain in focus. President Donald Trump recently threatened to raise global tariffs to 15%, although a 10% duty on a broad range of imports took effect on Tuesday.
Trump is also scheduled to deliver the 2026 State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT).
