【US Pre-Market】Nvidia China Orders Top $35 Billion, Micron Strike Weighs on Memory Stocks, SpaceX Earnings Take Center Stage

TradingKey - On Tuesday (October 20) Eastern Time, pre-market futures for the three major US stock indexes were mixed. International oil prices returned above $100 per barrel, which, coupled with concerns over AI infrastructure financing costs, dampened risk appetite for tech stocks.

As of press time, Dow futures rose about 0.07%, S&P 500 futures fell about 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell about 0.62%.

Source: Investing

In commodities, gold (XAUUSD) fell about 0.45%, trading near $4,120; international oil prices rose significantly, with WTI (USOIL) crude rising about 2.3% to around $100.5; Brent crude rose about 1.8%, trading near $111.2. Houthi attacks targeting Saudi infrastructure and vessel safety risks in the Gulf region once again pushed up the crude oil supply risk premium.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) fell about 0.6%, trading near $81,500. Inflation concerns stemming from rising oil prices and pre-market pressure on tech stocks dampened market demand for high-volatility risk assets.

Market Moves

3M (MMM) rose over 5% in pre-market trading. The company's adjusted earnings per share for the third quarter were $2.50, beating market expectations of $2.39; revenue was $6.584 billion, slightly missing expectations. 3M raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $9.10 to $9.15. In addition, the company expanded its data center partnership with Amazon (AMZN), under which Amazon may purchase up to 3.16 million shares of 3M stock, with partial warrant vesting tied to a cumulative $6 billion in data center product purchases.

Northrop Grumman (NOC) rose in pre-market trading, with intraday gains once approaching 4%. The company's third-quarter earnings per share were $7.89, beating market expectations of $7.18; revenue rose 7% year-over-year to $11.12 billion. Quarterly net orders reached $16 billion, driving the backlog to a record $110 billion, while the company raised its full-year profit guidance.

Steel Dynamics (STLD) fell over 6% in pre-market trading. The company's third-quarter revenue was $6.51 billion, exceeding market expectations of $6.43 billion, but earnings per share came in at $5.26, missing expectations of $5.48. Despite record quarterly steel shipments of 3.8 million tons, lower-than-expected profit still triggered a stock pullback.

Memory stocks collectively pulled back in pre-market trading. Micron Technology (MU) fell about 2.5%, SanDisk (SNDK) dropped nearly 3%, and Western Digital (WDC) fell about 2.6%. Beyond profit-taking in AI and memory stocks, Micron's Taoyuan union in Taiwan announced a one-day solidarity strike on October 22, demanding that the company present a concrete profit-sharing plan.

Market News

Nvidia's Chinese customer orders reportedly exceed $35 billion. According to Reuters citing people familiar with the matter, ByteDance, Alibaba (BABA), and Tencent have ordered over 3 million Nvidia (NVDA) RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards, with a total list price exceeding $35 billion. Nvidia has informed customers that it currently cannot guarantee all orders can be delivered as demand exceeds planned production.

China's October Loan Prime Rate (LPR) remained unchanged for the 17th consecutive month. China's 1-year LPR was maintained at 3.00%, and the 5-year and above LPR was held at 3.50%, in line with market expectations.

UK unemployment rate fell to 4.7%. Data from the UK Office for National Statistics showed that the unemployment rate for the three months to August dropped to 4.7%, its lowest level since mid-2025; average earnings excluding bonuses rose 3.7% year-on-year, exceeding market expectations of 3.6%.

The Middle East conflict continues to escalate. Yemeni officials said on Tuesday that a Houthi missile attack on a government military training camp in the south killed 73 people; Saudi Arabia issued an attack warning for the Riyadh region on the same day, with explosions heard near an airport in the north.

Key Data and Events Preview

At 8:30 AM ET on October 20, the U.S. releases September housing starts and building permits data.

At 10:00 AM ET on October 20, the U.S. releases the September pending home sales index.

After market close on October 20 ET, SpaceX (SPCX), Netflix (NFLX) and United Airlines (UAL) report earnings.

At 4:30 PM ET on October 20, the American Petroleum Institute releases API crude oil stock data.