Investing.com -- US stock futures edge higher ahead of wave of corporate earnings and a key release of US growth figures for the third quarter. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares jump premarket after the Google-owner's cloud unit fuels an increase in profit and revenue that topped estimates. Shares in Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), meanwhile, slump after its fourth-quarter revenue forecast was just shy of expectations.
1. Futures higher
US stock futures point higher as investors weighed earnings from megacap technology companies this week and assessed a raft of key economic indicators.
By 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT), the Dow futures contract had added 38 points or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures had gained 13 points or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had moved up by 49 points or 0.2%.
The main averages on Wall Street were mixed in the prior session, with traders gauging the outlook for Federal Reserve interest rate policy over the rest of the year. Expectations that the Fed will roll out further cuts were somewhat bolstered by a report showing a decline in job openings -- a proxy for labor demand -- to their lowest level since 2021.
By the end of the trading on Tuesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched a record closing high and the benchmark S&P 500 rose, while the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average fell. Looming over dealmaking were results from Google-owner Alphabet, which were released after the closing bell.
2. Alphabet results top estimates
Alphabet reported Tuesday third-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates thanks in large part to solid demand for the computing and data services needed to power artificial intelligence models fueling returns at its cloud computing unit.
In the three months ended in September, net income surged to $26.3 billion, up from $19.7 billion in the year-ago period and beating projections of $22.8 billion. Group-wide revenue also increased by 15% to $88.27 billion, ahead of expectations of $86.37 billion.
Underpinning the returns was the Google Cloud division, where revenue spiked by 35% to $11.4 billion and operating profit jumped to $1.9 billion -- up from $266 million in the corresponding timeframe last year.
Advertising revenue also moved up by 10% to $65.85 billion, a slightly slower rate of growth but still resilient enough to potentially temper some concerns over intensifying competition from AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT.
"[T]his is a great quarter with little to complain about [...], although investors really aren’t worried about near-term fundamentals," analysts at Vital Knowledge said in a note. "[T]he primary concerns are more in the medium/long-term with regulatory scrutiny and search competition from the likes of AI chatbots."
Shares in Alphabet gained in premarket US trading.
3. AMD shares slide premarket
Shares in Advanced Micro Devices slumped in premarket US trading after the chipmaker's fourth-quarter revenue outlook just missed estimates, erasing much of its over 10% gain logged so far this year.
AMD also increased its projections for sales of its key AI chips for next year to $5 billion from its prior estimate of $4.5 billion, although investors were underwhelmed by the guidance.
Due to soaring AI chip demand from a host of large tech firms, AMD has been struggling to provide the necessary supply of processors. Chief Executive Lisa Su flagged that supplies of AI chips would be tight heading into 2025.
In a note to clients, analysts at Morgan Stanley said AMD's returns were "essentially in line" with consensus forecasts, adding that they were "somewhat surprised" by the sell-off in the stock.
"[W]e still see 2024-25 as investment years for the AI opportunity, and think some revenue [and] earnings expectations are still too high," the analysts wrote.
4. Earnings parade marches on
Investors will be busy on Wednesday as they sift through an accelerating stream of corporate results and crucial economic data.
Higlighting the earnings slate will be quarterly reports from software behemoth Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Facebook-parent Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) following the closing bell on Wall Street. The two firms are both members of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" group of big-name tech stocks that have largely driven broader market movements in recent months.
Elsewhere, drugmaker Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is set to unveil its numbers before US markets open, as well as pharmaceutical player AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV). Construction equipment seller Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), often seen as a bellwether of the global economy, will also report.
On the data front, traders will get a first look at US growth in the third quarter. Economists predict that the initial preliminary reading of gross domestic product for the period will come in at an annualized rate of 3.0%, matching the April-June quarter's pace.
The figures could factor into how Americans view the state of the economy, a major issue for voters heading into the all-important Nov. 5 presidential election. Polls show the race between Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris and Republican former president Donald Trump is all but tied.
5. Crude gains
Oil prices rose Wednesday, recouping some of the recent losses as industry data showed an unexpected draw in U.S. inventories.
By 04:30 ET, the Brent contract climbed 1.2% to $71.58 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1.3% higher at $68.11 a barrel.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. oil inventories fell 0.57 million barrels in the past week, compared with expectations for a build of 2.3 million barrels.
The official inventory data is due later on Wednesday, and if this data matches the API numbers then it could indicate supplies in the world’s biggest fuel consumer were somewhat tight.