Why Are Nasdaq, Dow Futures Falling Premarket? MU, TSM, APLD, IONQ, HOOD, BULL, SLS In Focus

• The 30-year Treasury yield hits a 24-year high as markets digest a potentially more hawkish Fed path.
• TSMC's 54.6% September revenue growth and Samsung's record profit outlook reinforce strong AI-chip demand. 
• Jobless claims, Fed speeches and a busy earnings slate give traders additional catalysts to watch on Thursday.

U.S. stock futures were under pressure early on Thursday as rising Treasury yields, oil prices and fresh questions about the scale and financing of the artificial-intelligence investment boom kept traders on the edge.  

As of 4:00 a.m. ET, Dow futures fell 0.6%, Nasdaq futures declined 0.5%, S & P 500 futures were down 0.3%, and Russell 2000 futures fell 0.9%. The early weakness follows a softer Wednesday session. 30-year Treasury yields touched 24-year highs, and the September FOMC minutes signaled another potential rate hike before year-end. 

However, on Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the SPDR S & P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S & P 500 Index, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has stayed 'extremely bullish.'

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will attend a White House summit today to host top technology leaders in Washington and announce $1B+ in industry commitments for the Genesis Mission. He will also award the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

The Tech Radar: AI Spending, Chips And Cloud 

Broadcom (AVGO):Shares dipped over 1% in early premarket. Reports revealed it is seeking over $50 billion in financing for OpenAI's custom AI chip development and Oracle's cloud infrastructure deployment. 

Micron Technology (MU), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM): Shares fell over 1% in early premarket despite TSMC posting a 54.6% YoY jump in September revenue. It is expected to provide its full quarterly results and a detailed AI-demand outlook next week. Meanwhile, Samsung has signaled a record $80 billion operating profit.

Separately, Micron has also agreed to pay $600 million to license Netlists' (NLST) patents and settle ongoing litigation.

Microsoft (MSFT) is on the retail radar after a four-day winning streak, following the opening of preorders for the Nvidia-powered Surface Laptop Ultra and the announcement of local AI model integration into Windows. 

Amazon (AMZN): Reports indicate nearly 1,000 job cuts primarily within its Stores e-commerce unit amid ongoing corporate cost-cutting.

Wolfspeed (WOLF): Shares soared 18% in early premarket trade after securing a conditional 30-year, $1.5 billion loan commitment from the U.S. Department of War to expand domestic radiation-hardened chip production.

Applied Digital (APLD): The AI data-center operator reported a sharp revenue increase in Q1, along with a new agreement securing up to 1 gigawatt of power capacity in Finland.

IonQ (IONQ): Gained momentum after advancing to the final stage of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (worth up to $300 million through 2029) to validate utility-scale quantum fabrication.

Space And Satellite Stocks 

SpaceX (SPCX) remains one of the most watched names as the FCC prepares to consider new spectrum rules that could accelerate satellite-to-smartphone services. SpaceX and Amazon are among the companies positioned to benefit. Separately, Jim Cramer said that SpaceX could become Nvidia's largest customer. 

Keep an eye on Rocket Lab (RKLB) and AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) as well. 

Trending Stocks

Tesla (TSLA):Heading for a weekly win as Dan Ives initiated coverage with a $500 price target, citing over 30% upside from software and physical AI. UBS also raised its target to $391.

Kratos Defense (KTOS), Aerovironment (AVAV):In the spotlight as Cathie Wood's ARK Invest added significant shares in both companies following increased Pentagon focus on autonomous drone warfare.

Robinhood (HOOD), Webull (BULL):Webull stock plunged on Wednesday after a bipartisan House panel flagged national security concerns over its China ties. Robinhood and Public moved aggressively to poach Webull clients by offering 3% transfer bonuses.

Skydance Media (SKYD):Reports indicate that David Ellison and his family contributed approximately $17 billion toward the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction.

Lululemon (LULU):Facing pressure toward a second weekly decline despite overhauling its senior leadership team to reignite top-line growth. The company appointed Maggie Gauger as President and Chief Product Officer and Joseph Godsey as Chief Operating Officer, while searches are underway for new brand, communications and technology chiefs. 

Pharma Pulse

ImmunityBio (IBRX): Under pressure and heading for its worst week in over two months despite management highlighting new coverage linkages with Aetna-CVS.

Sellas Life Sciences (SLS): Retail traders analyzed new acute myeloid leukemia (AML) comparative trial data published in Nature.

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Sea Ltd (SE), Baidu Inc (BIDU), D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), and Cipher Digital (CIFR).

What Else To Watch On ThursdayOn the economic front, traders will watch the release of weekly jobless claims at 8:30 am ET, followed by wholesale trade data at 9:00 am ET. Watch out for speeches from Fed Governor Christopher Waller and St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem later today.

The Fed's September meeting minutes showed that most officials see another rate increase as possible before year-end. 

On the earnings slate, PepsiCo (PEP), Tilray Brands (TLRY), AngioDynamics (ANGO) and Byrna Technologies (BYRN) are among those reporting before the bell. Nurix Therapeutics (NRIX) and Oil-Dri Corp. of America (ODC) are among those reporting after market close today.  

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