Tonight’s Highlights | U.S. Futures Rise Collectively, Lilly Drops Over 14% Pre-Market

On Thursday, boosted by tech stocks, U.S. stock index futures rose collectively.

 

U.S. President Trump previously announced new tariffs on imported chips but offered exemptions for companies building factories in the U.S. Major European indices also saw broad gains.

Trump announced late Wednesday that a 100% tariff will be imposed on imported chips, though companies “building or committing to build in the U.S.” will be exempt.

 

Buoyed by this news, Nvidia rose over 1% in pre-market trading on Thursday, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained more than 2%.

 

Apple’s stock also climbed over 2% pre-market, following the company’s announcement of an additional $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years. This plan supplements the $500 billion investment pledged in February.

 

In the previous trading session, all three major U.S. indices closed higher, with the Nasdaq up over 1%. Before Wednesday’s rise, the S&P 500 had fallen in five of the past six trading days, while the Dow had declined in six of the past seven.

 

Kristian Kerr, macro strategist at LPL Financial, noted that market volatility has significantly decreased since tariff tensions peaked in early April.

 

“Volatility across major asset classes is currently at unusually low levels,” Kerr wrote in a report. “The stock market is no exception, with the one-month realized volatility of certain indices dropping to its lowest since June last year.”

Eli Lilly’s U.S. stock fell over 14% in pre-market trading. Clinical trials showed its oral drug Orforglipron achieved an average weight loss of 11.2%, below expectations. Boosted by unfavorable news for its competitor, Novo Nordisk’s U.S. stock rose over 13% in pre-market trading.

 

Intel dropped over 4% in pre-market after Trump stated that its CEO has a serious conflict of interest and must resign immediately.

Company News

Musk: Grok Imagine Video Generation to Be Free for All U.S. Users Soon

 

On August 7, reports indicate that Musk announced the Grok Imagine video generation feature will be free for all U.S. users in the coming days.

 

He encouraged downloading the Grok app to try it out and noted that the feature will see rapid improvements in the coming weeks and months.

 

Earlier, Musk posted that the Grok Imagine video generation feature is now available on Android.

 

Eli Lilly: Q2 Revenue $15.56B, Up 38%

 

On August 7, Eli Lilly released its Q2 2025 earnings, reporting revenue of $15.56 billion, a 38% year-over-year increase.

 

Adjusted EPS was $6.31, compared to $3.92 in the same period last year. The company raised its full-year revenue forecast to $60-62 billion, up from $58-61 billion.

 

SoftBank Group: Q1 Net Profit ¥421.819B, Turns Profitable

 

On August 7, SoftBank Group reported Q1 2025 sales of ¥1.82 trillion, up 7% year-over-year, with net profit of ¥421.819 billion, reversing a ¥174.281 billion loss from the previous year.

 

The Vision Fund posted investment gains of ¥726.837 billion, up from ¥19.11 billion last year.

 

Maersk Raises 2025 Full-Year Guidance

 

On August 7, Maersk Group released its Q2 2025 earnings: revenue of $13.13 billion, up 2.8% year-over-year, and EBITDA of $2.298 billion, compared to $2.144 billion last year.

 

The company raised its 2025 full-year guidance, expecting underlying EBITDA of $8-9.5 billion (previously $6-9 billion) and underlying EBIT of $2-3.5 billion (previously $0-3 billion).

 

Tesla Builds Over 70,000 Superchargers Globally

 

On August 7, Tesla VP Grace Tao posted on Weibo that Tesla has built over 70,000 Superchargers worldwide.