Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on August 23, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures were flat Tuesday night as investors waited in anticipation for chipmaker Nvidia’s quarterly earnings announcement Wednesday after the bell.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down 32 points, or 0.08%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.
In after-hours action, Nordstrom advanced 7% after the retailer posted adjusted earnings in the second quarter that surpassed expectations. Semiconductor developer Ambarella jumped 20% on upbeat revenue guidance in the third quarter. PVH, owner of Calvin Klein, slumped 7% on a disappointing outlook for the current quarter.
During Tuesday’s trading session, the broad market index and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both added nearly 0.2%. Nvidia posted a roughly 1.5% gain that helped buoy both indexes. The 30-stock Dow, meanwhile, added just 0.02% — just enough to post a second straight record close.
Wall Street is keeping an eye on Nvidia, the leader of the artificial intelligence trade, to gauge the broader sustainability of the broader tech and AI trade. The semiconductor giant has surged 159% in 2024, raising questions of how much more room there is for the stock to run.
Focal points for investors include the delivery schedule for Nvidia’s Blackwell chips and an update on the demand for AI.
“It’s hard to say that there’s not a lot of optimism priced into the market tomorrow,” Erin Browne, Pimco managing director and portfolio manager, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday.
To be sure, Browne noted that other AI stocks are trading around 10% below their all-time highs. Nvidia’s current valuation isn’t expensive relative to the five-year average, she added.
“So while certainly there’s a lot of optimism priced in, I think that they still can deliver upside and surprise the market to the upside,” Browne said.
Elsewhere on the earnings front, Bath & Body Works, Foot Locker and Kohl’s are some of the names slated to report their quarterly results Wednesday morning. In addition to Nvidia in the afternoon, investors will also be looking toward Salesforce’s earnings.
