US Pre-Market: Memory Chips Extend Rally, SanDisk, Western Digital Rise Nearly 8%, SK Hynix, Micron Rise Over 6%

TradingKey - On July 21, Eastern Time, in U.S. premarket trading, the three major stock index futures rose collectively. As of press time, Nasdaq 100 Index futures rose 1.33%, S&P 500 Index futures rose 0.45%, and Dow Jones futures rose 0.31%.

[Source: CME Group]

In commodities, as of press time, WTI crude oil futures rose 1.47% to $83.58 per barrel, and Brent crude oil futures rose 1.5% to $90.62 per barrel.

Gold and silver prices surged, with spot gold ( XAUUSD) trading around $4,058 per ounce; spot silver ( XAGUSD) trading around $58.77 per ounce.

In the crypto market, Bitcoin broke above the $66,000 mark and is currently trading around $66,315; Ethereum is currently trading around $1,933.

Market Alert

The memory chip sector extended its rebound momentum premarket. As of press time, SanDisk ( SNDK ), Western Digital ( WDC) rose nearly 8%, SK Hynix ( SKHY ), Micron Technology ( MU) rose over 6%, Seagate Technology ( STX) rose over 5%. After experiencing a sharp correction in the previous period, the semiconductor sector has seen technical recovery for several consecutive days this week.

The optical communications sector rose collectively premarket, with Marvell Technology ( MRVL) rising over 6%, Lumentum ( LITE ), Corning ( GLW )) rising over 5%.

Megacap tech stocks were mixed premarket. Alphabet Class A ( GOOGL) rose 0.05%, Tesla ( TSLA) rose 0.86%, with both companies scheduled to release their Q2 earnings after the close tomorrow. SpaceX ( SPCX) rose 1.39%, Nvidia ( NVDA) rose 1.24%, Meta ( META) rose 0.07%, Microsoft ( MSFT) fell 0.94%, Apple ( AAPL) fell 0.43%, Amazon ( AMZN) fell 0.1%.

Market News

Samsung Establishes Robotics Business Division, Elevating Robotics to a Long-Term Growth Engine. Samsung Electronics announced today that it will establish an independent robotics business division (RX Robotics Division), officially upgrading the robotics business to a core engine for the company's long-term growth. The move is seen as an important signal that Samsung is carving out a new growth curve beyond memory chips. Samsung has previously built a humanoid robot mass-production line in Gumi, and this organizational restructuring means the robotics business has been upgraded from marginal R&D to a strategic-level business. Affected by this, stock prices of South Korean robotics component suppliers rose sharply today.

AMD ( AMD) Helios Chip Officially Enters Microsoft Azure, Reshaping the AI Chip Market Landscape Once Again. AMD announced that its Helios AI accelerator chip has officially entered Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, making Microsoft the first hyperscaler to deploy the chip. This marks another major breakthrough for AMD in the AI chip sector following the MI300 series. Azure previously relied primarily on Nvidia GPUs, and the introduction of AMD Helios indicates that Microsoft is establishing an "Nvidia + AMD" dual-track strategy in its AI computing power supply chain.

Anthropic's $1.5 Billion Copyright Settlement Approved. On July 21, Eastern Time, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California officially approved the $1.5 billion class-action copyright settlement reached between Anthropic and a group of authors, ending the dispute over its use of pirated books to train its Claude large model. The settlement amount set a record as the largest copyright case settlement in U.S. history. However, some publishers and authors have opted out of the settlement to file independent lawsuits, and rightsholders still retain the right to sue separately over future model training or generated outputs.

Nvidia Discloses Stake in Nebius ( NBIS ) of 9.3%, with European AI Cloud Layout Emerging. Nvidia filed a Schedule 13G with the SEC, disclosing that it holds approximately 9.3% of the Class A ordinary shares of AI cloud service provider Nebius Group, involving 22,256,412 shares. The stake stems from the $2 billion investment plan announced by Nvidia on March 11. As of press time, Nebius's pre-market share price rose more than 6%.

Major Events Preview

Today's market news flow was relatively active: Anthropic's copyright settlement was approved, and Nvidia disclosed its stake in Nebius. However, the real highlight comes tomorrow when Google and Tesla report on the same day, making it the most crucial trading day of this earnings season. Cloud revenue growth and capital expenditure guidance will verify whether AI demand can support the high valuations of tech stocks; the trajectory of automotive gross margins will determine the market's judgment of Tesla's profitability. Prior to the release of the earnings results, market sentiment remains cautious with a wait-and-see attitude.