United States stock futures edged higher on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEST) as investors positioned ahead of a pivotal round of earnings from major technology companies and the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting.
By 10 am AEST (12 am GMT), Dow futures were up 0.2%, S&P futures rose 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.3%.
In after-hours trading, Booking Holdings fell 4.2% after the travel technology group trimmed its full-year adjusted earnings per share growth outlook to the “low to mid-teens”, down from previous expectations in the “mid-teens”, citing lingering impacts from the Middle East conflict through the end of June.
The company, however, reported first-quarter results that exceeded expectations on both revenue and profit.
Robinhood shares dropped 9.3% after the trading platform posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter results. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38 on revenue of $1.07 billion, missing forecasts of $0.39 per share and $1.14 billion in revenue.
Starbucks rose nearly 5.6% after upgrading its full-year outlook. The coffee chain now expects global and U.S. same-store sales to increase by at least 5% in fiscal 2026, up from its previous forecast of 3%.
It also raised its adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $2.25 to $2.45 per share, compared with its earlier outlook of $2.15 to $2.40.
Visa gained 5.1% after delivering stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. The payments company reported adjusted earnings of $3.31 per share on revenue of $11.23 billion, exceeding estimates of $3.10 per share and $10.75 billion, respectively.
The cautious tone follows a weaker regular session on Tuesday, when major indices retreated from record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower, the S&P 500 declined 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9%.
Technology stocks led the pullback after a report indicated that OpenAI had fallen short of its own revenue and user growth targets.
Investor focus is now firmly on earnings from four of the “Magnificent Seven” technology companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft—which are due to report after Wednesday’s closing bell.
Markets are looking for confirmation that heavy spending on artificial intelligence is translating into sustained revenue growth.
Attention is also on the Federal Reserve, with policymakers set to conclude their April meeting on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
The decision is expected to mark one of the final meetings chaired by Jerome Powell before his term concludes in May, with Kevin Warsh widely seen as his likely successor.
Markets broadly anticipate that the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged, as policymakers balance resilient economic conditions against ongoing inflationary pressures.
