US Stock Futures Rise on Alphabet Earnings, Trump’s AI Push
U.S. stock index futures advanced Wednesday evening, driven largely by gains in technology shares following strong second-quarter results from Alphabet Inc., and boosted further as President Donald Trump unveiled new initiatives to support the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.
One notable exception was Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), which dropped over 4% in after-hours trading after CEO Elon Musk warned of a “few rough quarters” ahead, following disappointing Q2 earnings.
Futures remained upbeat after Wall Street hit fresh all-time highs earlier in the day, supported by Trump’s announcement of a trade agreement with Japan. Additional trade deals with other nations are reportedly in the works, with attention focused on the August 1 deadline for Trump’s planned tariff hikes.
By 20:09 ET (00:09 GMT):
- S&P 500 Futures rose 0.1% to 6,402.25
- Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.3% to 23,387.50
- Dow Jones Futures edged down 0.3% to 45,097.0
Alphabet Beats Q2 Estimates, Expands AI Investment
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) jumped about 1.8% in after-hours trading after reporting Q2 earnings that surpassed expectations. The company posted earnings per share of $2.31, beating estimates of $2.18.
The tech giant highlighted strong demand for its cloud services and announced an increase in 2025 capital expenditures to $85 billion, up from $75 billion. It also projected even higher spending for 2026.
Adoption of AI-powered tools—especially integration into its search engine—boosted user engagement and drove a 10% increase in advertising revenue, the company’s main revenue source.
Trump Hosts AI Summit, Issues Executive Orders to Boost Industry
Tech sentiment was also lifted by Trump’s first White House AI summit, where he pledged more supportive regulations for the sector. He advocated for a national regulatory framework and emphasized U.S. leadership in AI.
Trump introduced a 90-point AI plan, signing three executive orders that:
- Ease environmental rules for AI data center construction on federal land
- Promote exports of U.S. AI technology
- Ban federal use of politically biased AI systems
He praised leading chipmakers including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), calling them central to America’s AI leadership.
Wall Street Hits Record Highs on Trade Optimism
All major U.S. indexes rallied to new highs on Wednesday amid optimism over the U.S.-Japan trade agreement, which imposes a 15% tariff on Japanese exports—a lower rate than initially feared.
- S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to a record 6,358.97
- NASDAQ Composite gained 0.6% to 21,020.02
- Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.1% to 21,020.02
Trump said the deal includes $550 billion in Japanese investment in the U.S., along with commitments to boost imports of American autos and agriculture, particularly rice.
Investors are also looking ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, where the central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.
