【US Pre-Market】Nvidia Earnings Ignite Market Enthusiasm as Memory Chip Stocks Rally, Nvidia Jumps 8%, Okta Surges 19%

TradingKey - On Thursday, August 27, Eastern Time, futures on the three major U.S. stock indices were mixed in pre-market trading. Nvidia (NVDA)'s results and guidance significantly exceeded market expectations, reigniting investor enthusiasm for the artificial intelligence industry, with tech and memory chip stocks strengthening broadly. Meanwhile, the market is awaiting Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium for further clues on interest rate policy.

As of press time, Nasdaq 100 futures were up 1.05%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.47%, and Dow 30 futures fell 0.04%.

Performance of futures on the three major U.S. stock indices, Source: Investing

In commodities, gold (XAUUSD) fell slightly, with spot gold dipping below $4,600 per ounce. Nvidia's earnings report boosted market risk appetite and weakened short-term safe-haven demand, but investors remain focused on Federal Reserve policy signals.

International oil prices rose slightly, with WTI (USOIL) crude trading near $82, while Brent crude (UKOIL) rose to around $87. Iran and Oman are still negotiating the specific details of an agreement related to the Strait of Hormuz, as geopolitical uncertainty continues to provide support for oil prices.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) continued to rise, once again approaching the $80,000 level.

Market Moves

Nvidia surged over 8% in pre-market trading at one point. The company's quarterly results and future guidance significantly exceeded market expectations, and management remained optimistic about AI infrastructure demand, prompting the market to reassess the growth prospects of the AI computing power industry.

Memory chip stocks rose across the board in pre-market trading. SanDisk (SNDK) and Marvell Technology (MRVL) gained over 5%, SK Hynix (SKHY) and Micron Technology (MU) climbed over 4%, while Western Digital (WDC) and Seagate Technology (STX) rose over 3%. Nvidia's strong results further reinforced expectations of growing AI server demand for HBM, NAND, and enterprise storage.

Optical communication stocks generally strengthened in pre-market trading. Lumentum (LITE), Tower Semiconductor (TSEM), Astera Labs (ALAB), and Coherent (COHR) rose over 3%, while Ciena (CIEN) and Corning (GLW) gained over 2%.

Salesforce (CRM) jumped over 12% in pre-market trading. The company's second-quarter revenue grew 11% year-over-year to $11.35 billion, while net profit surged 87% year-over-year to $3.53 billion. Third-quarter revenue guidance was set at $11.42 billion to $11.5 billion, above market expectations, with annual recurring revenue from AI products approaching $4 billion.

Okta (OKTA) surged about 19% in pre-market trading. The company's second-quarter results exceeded market expectations, boosting investor confidence in demand for identity verification and cybersecurity.

CrowdStrike (CRWD) rose about 8.7% in pre-market trading. The company's previously reported quarterly results beat market expectations, and growing demand for AI security continued to support its business performance.

HP (HPQ) fell over 8% in pre-market trading. Although the company's overall third-quarter results beat expectations, declining shipments and profit margins in its PC business sparked market concerns over cost pressures and profitability prospects.

Market News

Nvidia's earnings significantly beat expectations. Nvidia's latest quarterly results significantly exceeded Wall Street expectations, with management projecting fiscal 2028 revenue to grow by approximately 70%, far higher than analysts' previous forecast of 45%. The company also stated that Amazon plans to deploy an additional 2 million Nvidia GPUs, further reinforcing market expectations of sustained growth in demand for AI computing power.

Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress stated that even if supply remains tight, the company is expected to maintain rapid growth in fiscal 2028, with customer demand forecasts indicating that the scale of AI infrastructure procurement may continue to expand rapidly.

Nvidia reportedly seeks to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion. Nvidia has agreed to acquire open-source artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for approximately $12.9 billion. If completed, the deal would be one of Nvidia's largest acquisitions in recent years and further expand the company's footprint in the AI software and developer ecosystem.

SoftBank seeks controlling stake in 1X Technologies. SoftBank is reportedly in talks to acquire a majority stake in Norwegian humanoid robotics startup 1X Technologies at a valuation of up to approximately $6 billion, showing that Masayoshi Son continues to step up investment in artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence.

Kioxia and SanDisk plan to expand NAND capacity. Kioxia Holdings announced that it will construct a third wafer fab in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, and expand NAND flash capacity jointly with its manufacturing partner SanDisk to satisfy rapidly growing storage demand from AI servers and data centers.

Iran and Oman continue talks on Strait of Hormuz agreement. Iranian sources said both sides are still discussing specific arrangements for the agreement. The two nations previously reached a preliminary understanding on commercial ship transit routes, but related implementation details have not yet been finalized.

Key Data and Events Preview

At 8:00 AM ET, the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium takes place, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh delivers a speech.

At 8:30 AM ET, the U.S. releases initial jobless claims, continuing jobless claims, the July goods trade balance, and wholesale inventories data.

After U.S. market close, Marvell Technology (MRVL) reports quarterly earnings.