U.S. stock index futures moved higher in Wednesday premarket trading ahead of a closely watched CPI release, which the market is treating as the main event of the session.
According to Bitget market data cited by BlockBeats, Dow futures rose 0.14%, Nasdaq futures gained 0.71%, and S&P 500 futures added 0.28% before the opening bell. In commodities, WTI crude was up 0.64% and gold rose 0.61%.
Premarket headlines center on AI and semiconductors
A series of AI- and chip-related developments dominated the premarket news flow.
First, Elon Musk said in his latest remarks that AI revenue will surpass the revenue of all other SpaceX businesses in September. He also said AI could account for 99% of SpaceX’s valuation within five years.
Second, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix may unveil what would be their largest-ever shareholder return plans later this month. As the AI-driven memory chip supercycle lifts cash generation at both companies, market discussion has turned to the possibility that their combined shareholder returns — including special dividends, share buybacks, and share cancellations — could exceed KRW 200 trillion.
Third, Nvidia wants its next-generation Nemotron 4 to rank among the world’s strongest open models. Employees involved in the project expect the largest version to have at least 1 trillion total parameters, roughly double the size of Nemotron 3 Ultra released in June.
Fourth, SanDisk will hold its 2026 Investor Day at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 13. The event is being framed as the company’s most important strategic communication since its separation from Western Digital. After a sharp pullback in the stock, the meeting is also seen as a key window for management to rebuild market confidence, with investors watching whether NAND price gains and SanDisk’s current high profitability can continue.
Fifth, Google said its AI application Gemini has surpassed 1 billion monthly active users, making it the fastest-growing product in the company’s history.
AI bellwethers post strong earnings
Sixth, several high-profile AI names reported upbeat results.
- AI cloud computing company CoreWeave posted second-quarter operating revenue of $2.58 billion, above analysts’ expectation of $2.56 billion.
- Optical communications company Lumentum reported fourth-quarter results for the period ended June 27, 2026. Net revenue more than doubled year over year to $1.01 billion, topping market expectations of about $990 million and far exceeding $480.7 million in the same period a year earlier.
- NEBIUS reported second-quarter revenue of $582 million, up 454% year over year.
Seventh, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders sent letters to the CEOs of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta Platforms, urging them to follow through on their earlier public commitments to pause AI development. He also warned that Congress would step in by force if necessary.