U.S. equity futures moved modestly higher early Friday as markets sought to regain footing following a broad selloff the day before. Traders weighed renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East - which pushed oil prices sharply upward - against another round of upbeat corporate results and AI-related announcements that pointed to continued investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
By 05:47 ET (09:47 GMT), Dow Jones futures were up about 277 points, or roughly 0.5%. S&P 500 futures increased by around 21 points, or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed approximately 72 points, or 0.3%.
Market context
Markets were attempting to stabilize after heightened fears of an expanding conflict in the Middle East drove energy prices higher on Thursday. At the same time, investors continued to parse second-quarter earnings reports, with technology companies providing additional evidence that corporate spending on AI remains a material support for demand despite broader volatility.
Notable premarket movers
- Intel - The chipmaker jumped about 6% in premarket trade after forecasting third-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations and increasing its 2026 capital expenditures target to $20 billion from $18 billion. Management framed the stronger outlook around rising customer adoption of Intel data center CPUs for AI infrastructure, underlining optimism that Intel is beginning to capture more of the industry’s AI spending cycle.
- Amkor Technology - Shares spiked roughly 10.8% following the announcement of a $1.5 billion multi-year strategic partnership with Nvidia to expand advanced semiconductor packaging capacity in the United States. Under the arrangement, Nvidia will make a prepayment to support Amkor’s expansion in Arizona and the companies will collaborate on next-generation packaging technologies aimed at AI and accelerated computing platforms.
- Noodles & Company - The restaurant chain surged about 12.8% after reporting second-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.18 per share, reversing analyst expectations for a $0.08 loss. Revenue of $127 million also exceeded forecasts, with management citing stronger-than-expected sales performance.
- Verizon Communications - The telecom company gained around 2.2% after a second-quarter report that extended its streak of beating Wall Street estimates, with investors having expected adjusted earnings in the vicinity of $1.27 to $1.28 per share on roughly $35.2 billion of revenue.
- MannKind - The stock rose near 6% after U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Furoscix ReadyFlow for treatment of edema in adults with heart failure or chronic kidney disease. The company also disclosed a $50 million private placement to provide additional funding post-approval.
- Charter Communications - Despite reporting second-quarter earnings that beat estimates on an adjusted EPS basis, the cable operator slid about 3.9%. Revenue narrowly missed forecasts and the company reported a loss of 172,000 broadband subscribers during the quarter, highlighting intensifying competition from fiber and fixed-wireless providers.
- eBay - The shares fell roughly 3.7% after Meta Platforms launched a dedicated Seller app for Facebook Marketplace, stoking investor concern that Meta is targeting eBay’s core seller base.
- MaxLinear - The stock dropped about 10.3% even though the company reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. The decline amounted to a "sell the news" reaction after an earlier rally, despite the company reporting robust AI-related data center infrastructure revenue growth.
What this means for markets
The session highlights a market balancing act in which macro-geopolitical risk - in particular the prospect of a wider Middle East conflict and its effect on energy prices - competes with sector-specific momentum driven by AI investment and select corporate beat-and-raise results. Technology and semiconductor sectors showed clear uplift from AI demand signals, while consumer-facing and cable operators reflected competitive pressures and mixed top-line results.
Data and futures snapshots
Pre-market indicator movements extended across a range of contracts and futures, with several equity index and commodity instruments showing modest swings as investors adjusted positions in response to the overnight news flow.