US Pre-Market: Nasdaq Futures Jump 2% on Micron's Record Memory Quarter

Sentiment: bullish S&P 500 futures: +0.61% | Nasdaq 100 futures: +2.03%

Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 2.03% and S&P 500 futures rose 0.61% before Thursday's US open, lifting memory and chip stocks worldwide after Micron's fiscal Q3 report. Micron (MU.US) traded up about 17% premarket on a record 84.9% gross margin and fiscal Q4 revenue guidance of $49 billion to $51 billion. Markets now turn to the May PCE inflation report at 8:30am ET, the Fed's preferred gauge, with the US 10-year yield down 9 basis points to 4.40%.

Overnight drivers

• Micron earnings (MU.US): +17% premarket. Fiscal Q3 revenue of $41.46 billion topped the roughly $35.84 billion consensus, adjusted EPS of $25.11 beat the $20.78 estimate, and cloud memory revenue rose more than 300% to $13.77 billion. The memory beat is the single largest input behind the 2.03% jump in Nasdaq 100 futures.
• Qualcomm (QCOM.US): +11.7% premarket. At its investor day Qualcomm raised its non-handset revenue target from $22 billion to $40 billion, said its data center business will top $15 billion by fiscal 2029, and named Meta and Microsoft Azure as customers for its new Dragonfly C1000 server CPU.
• Falling yields into PCE: the US 10-year yield dropped 9 basis points to 4.40% as US-Iran de-escalation pushed WTI crude back to $69.63 (-1.01%), easing the inflation backdrop ahead of the 8:30am ET data.
• Narrow leadership: the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS.US) was flat at -0.12% premarket and Dow futures added 0.16%, so the gains sat in memory and semiconductors while the biggest tech names stayed quiet.

Overnight Wall Street (Wednesday close)

• S&P 500: 7,358.22 (-0.10%)
• Nasdaq Composite: 25,476.64 (-0.43%, a third straight decline)
• Dow Jones: 51,848.90 (+0.35%)
• Russell 2000: 2,986.63 (+0.37%)
• VIX: 18.12

The Dow rose 0.35% and the Russell 2000 added 0.37% on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.43% for a third straight session into Micron's report after the close. The VIX held near 18, well below its long-run average, pointing to a calm options market into the inflation data.

Overnight Asia & Europe

• Nikkei 225: 72,366.34 (+4.61%)
• KOSPI: 8,930.30 (+5.42%)
• Hang Seng: 23,076.91 (-1.43%)
• Shanghai Composite: 4,120.28 (+0.23%)
• STOXX 600: 639.39 (+0.67%)
• DAX: 24,870.84 (+0.53%)

Asia's memory makers tracked Micron higher. Korea's KOSPI rose 5.42% and Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 4.61% on Samsung, SK Hynix and chip equipment names, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.43%. Europe's chip stocks followed, with Infineon up 5.9%, STMicroelectronics up 4.4% and ASML up around 4% in early trade.

Commodities & FX

• Gold: US$3,992.60/oz (-0.40%)
• WTI crude: US$69.63 (-1.01%)
• Brent: US$73.18 (-0.93%)
• Copper: US$6.09/lb (+1.25%)
• US Dollar Index: 101.72 (+0.11%)

Gold slipped below US$4,000 with the dollar firm at 101.72, and crude fell about 1% as progress in US-Iran talks pushed oil back toward pre-conflict levels. Copper rose 1.25%, recovering part of this week's slide.

Pre-market movers

• MU.US +17%: fiscal Q3 revenue $41.46 billion, record 84.9% gross margin, Q4 revenue guide $49 billion to $51 billion.
• QCOM.US +11.7%: data center targets raised at its investor day, Meta and Microsoft Azure named as Dragonfly C1000 customers.
• Memory and chip equipment peers WDC.US, SNDK.US, LRCX.US, KLAC.US and AMAT.US traded higher alongside Micron.
• WEN.US +12.7%: extending Wednesday's jump after the appointment of a new chief financial officer.

US economic calendar today (ET)

• 8:30am: May core PCE price index, consensus 2.6% year over year (the Fed's preferred inflation gauge)
• 8:30am: Final Q1 GDP, consensus +1.6%
• 8:30am: Initial jobless claims, consensus 225,000
• 8:30am: Advance durable goods orders (May), consensus +0.2%
• 8:30am: Personal income (May), consensus +0.4%
• 10:00am: Pending home sales (May)

What to watch

• The May PCE print is the session's pivot. Core PCE at or below the 2.6% consensus would reinforce the bond rally already underway; a hotter number would pressure the chip and futures gains.
• With the Magnificent Seven ETF flat at -0.12% premarket, follow-through after the open depends on whether the gains extend beyond memory and semiconductors.

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