US Pre-Market: Micron Earnings Ignite Memory Chip Sector, Nasdaq Futures Rise Over 2%. IBM Sub-1nm Chip, Qualcomm AI Strategy Jointly Support

TradingKey - On June 25, Eastern Time, in US pre-market trading, the three major stock index futures rose collectively. As of press time, Dow futures rose 0.24%, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2.16%, and S&P 500 futures rose 0.73%.

[Source: CME Group]

In commodities, precious metal prices continued to fall. As of press time, spot gold ( XAUUSD) is currently trading at $3,985/oz, down 0.36%; spot silver ( XAGUSD) is currently trading at $57.32/oz, down 0.21%.

International oil prices continued their decline, with WTI crude oil futures trading at $69.46/barrel, down 1.24%, and Brent crude oil futures at $72.85/barrel, down 1.37%. Oil prices remain under pressure due to factors such as Iraq pressuring OPEC for a higher quota and rising expectations of a recovery in Middle East supply.

In the crypto market, Bitcoin (BTC) continued its decline, briefly falling below the $60,000 mark during intraday trading and hitting a low in the $59,000 range, its lowest level since October 2024. As of press time, Bitcoin is trading at around $61,070, and Ethereum (ETF) is trading at around $1,630.

The US Dollar Index rose 0.21% to 101.59, climbing to a near six-week high.

Unusual Market Movements

The memory chip sector surged across the board. Boosted by Micron Technology's ( MU) blowout earnings report, U.S. memory chip stocks rallied across the board in pre-market trading. As of press time, Micron rose over 18%, SanDisk ( SNDK) rose over 16%, Western Digital ( WDC) rose over 13%, Seagate Technology ( STX) rose over 10%.

The semiconductor equipment and manufacturing sector surged in tandem. ASML ( ASML) rose over 4%, TSMC ( TSM) rose nearly 3%.

Optical communication stocks rallied across the board in pre-market trading. Corning ( GLW) rose nearly 7%, Marvell Technology ( MRVL ), Coherent ( COHR) rose over 4%. Liquid cooling leader Vertiv ( VRT) rose nearly 5% in pre-market trading, currently trading at $316.43. In addition, SpaceX ( SPCX) rose over 3%.

Market Headlines

Micron Technology reports blowout earnings, surging over 18% premarket. After hours on June 24 ET, Micron Technology reported its fiscal third quarter 2026 financial results: revenue reached $41.46 billion, a year-over-year surge of 346%, far exceeding market expectations; gross margin hit 84.9%, a historic high for the company. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue guidance was set at $49 billion to $51 billion, also significantly beating expectations. Following the announcement, Micron surged over 15% in after-hours trading to around $1,213.96. Premarket on June 25, Micron rose over 18%, currently trading at $1,238.21,

IBM ( IBM) launches the world's first sub-1nm chip, rising nearly 4% premarket. On June 25, IBM announced the launch of the world's first sub-1nm chip, offering up to a 50% performance boost and a 70% increase in energy efficiency compared to the 2nm node. The chip integrates nearly 100 billion transistors in an area the size of a fingernail, doubling the density of 2nm chips. Its core technology benefits from innovations such as three-dimensional nanosheet architecture, meeting the demands of generative AI, cloud infrastructure, and next-generation electronic devices. Boosted by this news, IBM rose nearly 4% premarket to around $273.

Qualcomm ( QCOM) investor day sends aggressive signals, shares surge over 10% premarket. On June 25, Qualcomm held its 2026 Investor Day in New York, announcing a major expansion into the AI data center chip market and significantly raising its long-term financial targets. Qualcomm expects its data center business to surpass $15 billion in annual revenue by fiscal 2029, and sharply raised its non-handset revenue guidance from $22 billion to $40 billion. The company also unveiled the Dragonfly C1000 CPU, designed specifically for AI data centers, and announced that Meta ( META) has agreed to adopt the chip; Microsoft ( MSFT) Azure will become a customer for its High-Bandwidth Computing (HBC) chips. Furthermore, Qualcomm announced it will acquire AI software company Modular in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion, filling a gap in its data center software capabilities. Boosted by these developments, Qualcomm surged over 10% premarket and is currently trading at $218.53.

NVIDIA ( NVDA) holds its annual shareholder meeting. On June 24 ET, NVIDIA held its 2026 annual shareholder meeting, where all 10 board nominees were approved. CEO Jensen Huang stated at the meeting that the question of AI's return on investment 'has been answered,' calling AI data centers 'factories that manufacture tokens,' with every token representing a unit of profit.

SK Hynix seeks Nasdaq listing on July 10. South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix disclosed its fundraising plans in the U.S., intending to issue American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on Nasdaq to raise 45.45 trillion won (approximately $29.4 billion), with official trading expected to begin as early as July 10.

Trump demands investigation into oil company pricing practices. U.S. President Trump stated on June 24 that he has asked the Department of Justice to investigate oil companies' failure to lower retail gasoline prices in response to falling crude oil prices, specifically calling out ExxonMobil ( XOM) and Chevron ( CVX ).

Key Events Preview

Micron's earnings report ignited the memory chip sector. Micron Technology dispelled market concerns about slowing AI demand and peaking earnings with a historic earnings report. The company's CEO stated that the industry's supply and demand for memory products will remain tight in 2027, with the tight supply-demand situation extending beyond 2027. Boosted by this, the memory chip sector surged across the board in pre-market trading, and Nasdaq futures jumped over 2%, making it the biggest highlight of today's pre-market session.