United States equity futures traded near flat on Wednesday evening after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high, with investors turning their attention to another busy session of corporate earnings.
By 10:10 am AEST (12:10 am GMT), Dow futures and S&P 500 futures were both up 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures edged 0.1% lower.
In after-hours trading, memory chip stocks came under pressure following mixed earnings updates and cautious guidance.
Western Digital shares dropped 11% after its current-quarter outlook disappointed investors. The company forecast adjusted earnings of US$4 per share, plus or minus 15 cents, on revenue of $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million, compared with analyst expectations of $3.81 per share on revenue of $4.04 billion.
For the latest quarter, Western Digital reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.56, above expectations of $3.31, while revenue reached $3.75 billion compared with forecasts of $3.7 billion.
Sandisk shares declined 7% after its revenue guidance raised concerns among investors. The company expects first-quarter revenue between $10.3 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with the LSEG consensus estimate of $10.47 billion.
However, Sandisk’s fourth-quarter results exceeded expectations, reporting EPS of $39.25 compared with forecasts of $34.96, while revenue came in at $8.96 billion against expectations of $8.48 billion.
Salesforce shares fell 4.4% after the company announced it would appoint Miguel Milano as operating chief. Milano, a former Oracle executive, previously spent nearly a decade at Salesforce in Europe. The company’s shares have fallen more than 27% so far this year.
During regular trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5% to a record close, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.8%.
Strong earnings and renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence initially supported markets, with Nvidia shares rising more than 3% after Elon Musk said during SpaceX’s earnings call that the company would rely exclusively on Nvidia chips for its AI infrastructure.
The chipmaker’s gains helped lift the Dow to a fresh record, although technology stocks later retreated as investors locked in profits and shares of Advanced Micro Devices and Alphabet came under pressure.
Investors have also been encouraged by signs that tensions in the Middle East may ease, contributing to a recent decline in oil prices.
Wall Street is preparing for another major earnings session on Thursday, with Warner Bros. Discovery reporting before the market opens, followed by Airbnb and Lyft after the close.
On the economic front, weekly jobless claims are due on Thursday, while the key focus remains Friday’s release of the July nonfarm payrolls report.
