Tonight's Highlights: Middle East Tensions Take a Dramatic Turn; AI Drives Rare Growth Surge in Corporate Earnings
With early signs of progress emerging around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, all three major U.S. stock index futures edged higher in pre-market trading.
As of writing, Nasdaq 100 futures (SEP6) rose 0.37%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.16%, and Dow futures ticked up 0.11%.
According to reports, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif stated that the U.S. and Iran are nearing "some kind of arrangement."
In an interview, Asif noted that momentum is once again shifting toward a peaceful arrangement or agreement. "Signals received over the past two to three days indicate that we are close to reaching an understanding," he said.
The remarks triggered a swift drop in international crude prices, with Brent crude futures sliding from around $90 to $88 per barrel. Spot gold, meanwhile, erased its intraday losses.
At the same time, Nvidia—the central player behind a headline-grabbing "$500 billion AI infrastructure fund"—stabilized in pre-market trading on Tuesday.
On Monday, the company announced a partnership with the chief executives of Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, and Brookfield to establish a $500 billion funding pool dedicated to building AI factories.
In a rare joint appearance, the leaders of these Wall Street powerhouses stepped forward to endorse the initiative. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon revealed that the consortium was born from an idea proposed by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Huang pushed back against allegations of "circular financing"—the notion that Nvidia is funding cloud providers simply to buy back its own chips.
He clarified that the six Wall Street firms will independently decide whether to extend loans. Nvidia’s role is to connect clients with financing and offer an option to guarantee up to 25% of each loan to help lower borrowing costs.
Borrowers must deploy Nvidia’s designated system architecture, ensuring that another entity can seamlessly take over operations if "certain situations" arise.
Regardless of shifting market sentiment surrounding "AI spending," massive capital expenditure across the sector remains the bedrock of corporate earnings growth.
Data indicates that Q2 earnings for S&P 500 companies are projected to grow 32% year-over-year, following a 30% surge in Q1. Growth expectations for the next two quarters also exceed 20%.
Bank of America's strategy team highlighted that two consecutive quarters of 30%+ earnings growth has occurred only 10 times since 1936—events seen in recent years only during low-base recoveries following the Great Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the bell on Tuesday, emerging cloud operator CoreWeave and optical networking standout Lumentum will report earnings.
CoreWeave will attempt to snap its streak of post-earnings slumps across its last five reports, while a sharp Monday pullback in optical stocks may offer Lumentum some breathing room heading into its release.
Other News
Intel Share Sale Draws Over $100 Billion in Demand
Intel announced it has expanded its stock offering from an initial $15 billion to $20 billion, priced at $95 per share—a 6.5% discount to last Friday's close.
Media reports citing sources familiar with the matter noted that the offering was heavily oversubscribed, drawing more than $100 billion in total bids.
Glass-Body iPhone Project Reportedly Still Moving Forward
Sources familiar with the matter disclosed that Apple still plans to launch an all-glass iPhone Pro lineup next year to mark the 20th anniversary of the iPhone.
Two internal models, codenamed V73 and V74, feature glass front and back panels with curved edges flowing into a central metal frame. The report comes after an analyst note on Monday claimed the all-glass project had been scrapped, temporarily weighing on Apple shares.
Anthropic Deal Sends Bitcoin Miner Riot Stock Soaring
Pre-market trading saw shares of Bitcoin miner Riot jump over 16%. Reports revealed that AI developer Anthropic has entered into a $9.1 billion agreement with Riot to secure compute resources.
On Monday, Riot disclosed a 20-year agreement with a leading frontier AI company to supply up to 191 megawatts of power capacity.
Rocket Lab Edges Lower on Potential Delay for Neutron Rocket Debut
Shares of commercial space venture Rocket Lab fell over 3% in pre-market action.
The company stated that while its reusable medium-lift Neutron rocket remains scheduled to reach the launch pad in Q4 2026, it stopped short of reaffirming its prior goal for a maiden flight within the year. The Neutron rocket is designed to compete directly with SpaceX's Falcon 9.
Plug Power Shares Surge Post-Earnings
Hydrogen fuel cell company Plug Power saw its shares surge over 16% in pre-market trading after topping Q2 expectations and raising its full-year outlook.
The company's gross margins improved significantly to near breakeven, compared to -31% in the prior-year period and -13% in Q1.
Domino’s Pizza to Launch "Single-Serve Pizzas"
The world's largest pizza chain plans to introduce a rectangular pizza specifically designed for solo orders by the end of this month, aiming to win market share from fast-food rivals.
Data from market research firm Circana shows that solo dining in the U.S. has grown steadily, accounting for 43% of all restaurant visits in the 12 months ending in June.