U.S. equity futures moved higher on Thursday as investors digested another set of outsized results from Nvidia and monitored shifting developments in the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. At 04:16 ET (08:16 GMT), Dow futures were higher by 98 points, or about 0.2%, S&P 500 futures were up roughly 15 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had advanced about 54 points, or 0.2%.
The main Wall Street indexes had rebounded on Wednesday from a three-day decline, in part on hopes that a draft agreement could be reached to end the more-than-two-month war between the U.S. and Iran. A pullback in oil prices helped temper a recent spike in U.S. Treasury yields and eased some of the pressure that had been weighing on equities.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's April meeting were released this week. Strategists at BCA Research highlighted that although the minutes included language pointing to a bias toward future rate easing, the document also reflected that a majority of participants believed "some policy firming would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue to run persistently above 2%."
Market attention has been pivoting away from inflation and interest-rate worries and back toward the path of the artificial intelligence boom. Chip names had already rallied into Nvidia's report, which arrived after the U.S. market close.
Nvidia posts staggering April-quarter results
Nvidia delivered a blockbuster set of results for the April quarter, underlining its role as a bellwether for the AI-driven demand cycle. The company reported sales of $81.6 billion for the quarter, an increase of 85% from the same period a year earlier. Net income was $58.3 billion, more than three times the prior year's level and notably above Wall Street expectations.
CEO Jensen Huang described the emergence of the "era of agentic AI," saying demand has turned "parabolic" as models that can act autonomously on users' behalf become more widely adopted.
Analysts at Wedbush framed Nvidia's position in the market as analogous to a landlord in the chip ecosystem, with other players effectively "paying rent" as sovereigns and enterprises queue for Nvidia's chips. Even so, Nvidia's shares were relatively subdued in premarket trading after some analysts, cited by Reuters, noted that the company's outlook did not factor in sales in China and was only marginally ahead of estimates. Given the lofty expectations that often surround Nvidia, even results that beat forecasts can fall short of market hopes.
SpaceX files for what could be the largest IPO
Elon Musk's aerospace company filed for an initial public offering that, if completed as outlined, could become the largest IPO on record. SpaceX is targeting $80 billion or more from the offering, a scale that would surpass the previous largest deal, Saudi Aramco's 2019 flotation.
The filing disclosed aspects of SpaceX's broad operations and financial footprint. The company comprises a unit that launches astronauts and satellites and a satellite internet division. One of those units generated $4.1 billion in revenue last year but remained unprofitable, while the other produced $11.4 billion in revenue. Total expenditures for the group reached $20.7 billion, largely attributed to spending by xAI, the AI startup backed by Musk that has been investing heavily in data centers.
SpaceX and xAI completed a merger in February. Analysts, as noted in the filing, have predicted that SpaceX and Tesla may also form ties next year. The planned flotation would materially enrich Musk - the transaction is structured in a way that could make him the world's first trillionaire while he controls an 85% voting stake in the business.
OpenAI reported to be preparing its own IPO
Separately, reports indicate that OpenAI is preparing to pursue a public listing, possibly as early as September. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, said the plan remains fluid and could change. OpenAI has been working with investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to ready a potential filing in the coming days or weeks.
A legal obstacle was recently cleared when OpenAI prevailed in a legal dispute with Elon Musk earlier this week; however, Musk has said he intends to appeal the verdict.
Geopolitical backdrop and oil
Beyond company-specific news, comments from U.S. political leaders added to market chatter. President Donald Trump said the U.S. was in the "final stages" of negotiating a potential draft peace agreement with Iran, though he cautioned that hostilities could be re-escalated, saying "we're going to do some things that are a little bit nasty" if a deal is not reached. Iran stated it is reviewing Washington's most recent position on concluding the conflict.
Investors have been watching closely for any sign that a deal might reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime passage off Iran's southern coast that has been effectively shut to tanker traffic since the conflict began in late February. Media reports citing shipping data suggested some vessels have been able to traverse the channel in recent days.
Brent crude futures were last quoted modestly higher at $106.34 a barrel after falling from around $110 a barrel following Trump's comments.
Market implications and analyst takeaways
Market strategists noted that the Fed minutes do not close the door on further rate moves if inflation proves persistent, even as the document signals a tilt toward eventual easing. At the same time, the resurgence in AI-related demand, highlighted by Nvidia's results, is refocusing investor attention on the technology sector and the companies that enable advanced AI workloads.
Chip stocks, which had already rallied into Nvidia's report, remained a focal point after the earnings release, though some observers cautioned that Nvidia's guidance was conservative in excluding potential Chinese sales and only modestly exceeded estimates. That combination of record results and guarded forward commentary can produce muted near-term share reactions in stocks with very high expectations.
Services and research notes mentioned
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Bottom line
This session combined company-level fireworks with high-stakes market watching. Nvidia's record top-line and profit figures underscore how deeply AI demand is affecting corporate revenue streams, yet investors remain sensitive to the details of forward guidance. At the same time, SpaceX's filing for an unprecedentedly large public offering and reports of OpenAI preparing an IPO are reshaping expectations about capital markets activity in the tech sector. Overlaying those developments are geopolitical negotiations that continue to move oil and bond markets and therefore influence broader risk assets.