US pre-open: Futures mixed as Dow hits fresh record

6th Aug 2026 11:52

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the open on Thursday after the Dow closed at another fresh record high, with investors turning their attention to another heavy slate of corporate earnings.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were up 0.27% and 0.14%, respectively, while Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.46% lower.

The Dow closed 263.24 points higher on Wednesday, off session highs amid a late pullback in broader market sentiment.

SpaceX was back in the spotlight prior to the open as the first lock‑up on its shares expires, freeing up more than 900m shares for early investors to sell. The staggered release could put pressure on the stock as liquidity increases.

In terms of Thursday's earnings, Restaurant Brands posted second‑quarter results that topped expectations, driven by a sharp acceleration in Burger King' US performance, with adjusted earnings per share coming in at $1.07, ahead of the $1.03 forecast, while net revenue rose 4.5% to $2.52bn, in line with Wall STreet estimates. Burger King US same‑store sales jumped 8.5%, compared with 1.5% a year earlier.

Elsewhere, Warner Bros Discovery missed revenue expectations in Q2, as the absence of NBA rights and the release of Supergirl weighed on results. Revenues fell 11% to $8.7bn, below the $9.2bn consensus, while diluted earnings per share of $0.06 beat expectations for a $0.10t loss. The update comes as the company's proposed $110bn merger with Paramount remains tied up in legal challenges, with 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America seeking to block the deal on antitrust grounds. Streaming was a bright spot, with revenue up 10% to $3.1bn and underlying earnings surging 75% to $512m.

Still to come, Airbnb and Lyft were both slated to report earnings after the close.

On the macro front, US employers announced 33,429 job cuts in July, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, down 27% from June and 46% below the same month last year to mark the lowest monthly total in two years. Artificial intelligence remained the top driver of reductions for a fifth straight month, accounting for 10,970 cuts, while the tech sector once again led industry‑level declines with 9,867 planned layoffs, followed by financial services at 3,157, government at 2,962 and services at 2,581. So far this year, companies have announced 477,033 job cuts, down 41% from the 806,383 recorded in the first seven months of 2025. Hiring plans also improved, with employers announcing 16,095 new roles in July, the strongest July reading since 2022.

Still to come, weekly jobless claims data from the Department of Labor will be published at 1330 BST, as will a preliminary reading of Q2 non-farm productivity, while June wholesale inventories figures will follow at 1500 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com