U.S. stock futures climbed in early Friday trade as blowout results from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) reignited investor appetite for artificial intelligence-driven equities.
Nasdaq futures rose 1.2% as of 4:00 a.m. ET, while S&P 500, Dow, and Russell 2000 futures each gained approximately 0.5%.
Amazon shares soared more than 11% in premarket trading after investors cheered AWS posting its strongest growth in 18 quarters, robust advertising revenue, and management confidence that AI infrastructure demand remains supply constrained through at least 2027.
The strong Amazon print followed similarly upbeat results from Microsoft and Meta earlier in the week, with Azure-driven cloud growth and advertising strength reassuring markets that AI spending is translating into real revenue.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stood as the session’s most prominent laggard, falling more than 7% in premarket trade after issuing softer-than-expected forward guidance, with investors focusing on weaker Services revenue and supply constraints.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits shifted to bearish on Apple, though several traders argued the selloff may be overdone, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF sentiment remaining broadly bearish while Invesco QQQ Trust sentiment moderated to neutral from bearish.
Chip stocks rallied broadly for a second consecutive session, with SanDisk, Micron, AMD, Nvidia, and ASML all gaining ground as Amazon’s AI commentary strengthened confidence in hyperscaler spending and a dramatic rebound in the South Korean market.
Notably, investor Michael Burry has increased bearish bets against Nvidia, Micron, and the semiconductor ETF SOXX, offering a counterpoint to the prevailing bullish momentum in the sector.
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) rose more than 2% in premarket trade after the company launched 10 new AI data center rack models designed for NVIDIA’s GB300 and Vera Rubin platforms.
Reddit (NYSE: RDDT) shares dropped nearly 10% in early premarket trade after management disclosed slowing logged-in user growth and increasingly volatile Google search referrals, with CEO Steve Huffman acknowledging search traffic had become “choppy.”
Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) surged more than 6% in premarket trade as retail investors looked past a short-seller report from Hunterbrook Capital challenging its fuel cell efficiency claims.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) edged higher even as Elon Musk dismissed a Wall Street Journal report claiming the company was exploring strategic options for its China business ahead of a potential SpaceX transaction, with Musk calling the report “absurdly fake news.”
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), Redwire, Viasat, and Fly each rose nearly 3% in premarket trade after securing eligibility under a $981 million U.S. Space Force IDIQ contract, opening the door to future Pentagon orders.
On the economic front, investors will be watching for the release of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index revised reading at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Key earnings reports due Friday include Moderna, ExxonMobil, Chevron, AbbVie, Ballard Power Systems, and Trump Media and Technology Group, adding further potential catalysts to an already eventful week for markets.
