(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were cautiously higher ahead of the bell on Thursday as Alphabet and Qualcomm both traded lower following their quarterly earnings reports and cryptocurrency losses accelerated.
As of 1225 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.05%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.08% and 0.06% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 260.31 points higher on Wednesday, more than reversing losses recorded in the previous session as traders rotated out of a number of big-name tech firms.
Google parent company Alphabet was in focus prior to the open after beating on both the top and bottom lines, as it revealed it would significantly increase its AI spending in 2026, while chipmaker Qualcomm was also drawing an amount of investor attention prior to the open after it reported record first-quarter revenues, but cautioned that a growing shortage of memory chips would weigh on future sales.
In terms of Thursday's earnings, Bristol-Myers Squibb exceeded analyst expectations with its fourth quarter revenues of $12.5bn and earnings of $1,26 per share, but providing 2026 guidance that indicated reflected ongoing pressure on top-selling drugs Eliquis and Opdivo, as well as Medicare price negotiation, while Estée Lauder reported second-quarter earnings per share of $0.89 on revenues of $4.23bn, up 43% and 6% year-on-year, respectively, but warned that tariff-related headwinds would weigh on profitability by approximately $100m.
Elsewhere, Hershey posted stronger‑than‑expected Q4 results, with adjusted earnings of $1.71 per share, comfortably ahead of the $1.40 forecast, and revenues of $3.09bn, 7% higher year-on-year and ahead of expectations of $2.97bn.
Still to come, Amazon will report its latest quarterly earnings.
Bitcoin was also in focus after the benchmark cryptocurrency briefly dipped below $70,000 as a wider pullback in risk assets gathered pace, marking its first drop through the level since November 2024. Market participants have flagged the $70,000 level as a key threshold, warning that a sustained break below it could open the door to further downside.
On the macro front, January's Challenger job cuts data will be released at 1230 GMT, while weekly jobless claims figures from the Labor Department was slated for publication at 1330 GMT, and December's JOLTS job opening report will follow at 1500 GMT.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com