Nasdaq futures surged 2% on Thursday following encouraging outlooks from chipmakers Micron and Qualcomm, which signaled strong demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure and boosted confidence in technology stocks broadly.
Both companies painted a bullish picture for AI-related spending. Customers committed $22 billion to lock in Micron’s memory chips, while Qualcomm projected it would generate $15 billion in data-center revenue by the year 2029.
European-listed shares of Micron climbed 18.7% on the news, and the positive forecasts drove technology shares sharply higher across markets in both Asia and Europe.
Investors had been watching earnings reports from both companies closely to determine whether the sky-high valuations of chip stocks, cloud computing companies, and other businesses riding the AI wave were actually supported by real demand.
U.S.-listed shares of Micron and Qualcomm have surged more than 200% and 50%, respectively, just this quarter. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index is on pace for its strongest quarter ever recorded, according to data from LSEG.
Technology stocks had been under pressure in recent weeks as investors worried about heavy debt-funded spending and rising borrowing costs. Micron’s strong forecast helped ease those concerns, even as the company announced plans to increase its capital spending.
Despite Thursday’s gains, the Nasdaq remained on track for its largest monthly drop since March 2025. The Philadelphia semiconductor index was also heading toward its worst week since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict earlier this year.
As of 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Dow E-minis were up 66 points, or 0.13%. S&P 500 E-minis gained 52.75 points, or 0.71%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 606.75 points, representing a 2.06% increase.
Attention will now shift to the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation — the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index — scheduled for release later Thursday. Economists surveyed by Reuters expect it to show an annual rate of 4.1%, which is more than double the Fed’s stated target.
In response to persistent inflation pressures, traders are betting that the Fed will raise interest rates by at least a quarter of a percentage point as soon as September, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
