US stocks ticked higher early Tuesday as earnings rolled in, with Palantir's (PLTR) outlook fueling faith in AI demand and precious metals jumping to continue their wild ride.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.2%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) edged up by 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) picked up roughly 0.3% after the blue-chip benchmark led gains on Monday with a 500-point advance.

The S&P 500 is eyeing a fresh record after Palantir's surprisingly strong quarterly results signaled the AI trade has room to run. Revenue at the data analytics firm surged, driven by demand for its AI platform, and its sales outlook topped estimates, sending its stock over 11% higher before the bell.

Elsewhere in AI, investors are monitoring Nvidia (NVDA) and OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) amid signs of cooling relations between the high-profile AI players. The startup's dissatisfaction with Nvidia's latest AI chips has bogged down talks with the chipmaker for an investment of up to $100 billion — a plan its CEO Jensen Huang downplayed on Monday.

That has turned a spotlight on chipmaker AMD's (AMD) after-hours earnings report, which could provide the best look yet at the AI trade amid those fears of Big Tech overspending and an AI bubble. Its results prepare the ground for quarterly updates from Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOG), highlights in the 100-plus S&P 500 companies on the calendar this week.

On Tuesday, PayPal (PYPL) earnings and forecast missed estimates, as the payments services firm named HP (HPQ) boss Enrique Lores as its new CEO. Its stock tumbled over 16%, against a background of an exodus from software stocks. Reports from Pepsi (PEP), Pfizer (PFE), and Chipotle (CMG) are also on the docket.

Elsewhere in the corporate world, The Walt Disney Company (DIS) named parks chief Josh D'Amaro as the entertainment giant's next CEO, set to replace long-time leader Bob Iger on March 18. Shares in Disney fell at the open.

Meanwhile, volatility continued to grip precious metals, as gold (GC=F) jumped over 6% to eye its biggest daily gain since 2008, having notched its deepest daily drop in 43 years on Friday. An influx of dip-buyers was credited as silver (SI=F) also rebounded dramatically from Monday's losses, surging over 13%.

Space stocks moved higher in premarket after Elon Musk said SpaceX (SPAX.PVT) will buy xAI (XAAI.PVT) in a deal that values the merged company at $1.25 trillion.

Walt Disney (DIS) named parks division chief Josh D'Amaro as the company's next CEO, succeeding long-time leader Bob Iger. Shares ticked up by more than 1% in premarket trading on the news.

D'Amaro has led Disney's parks and cruise businesses — which operate under the company's Experiences unit — since 2020. He joined Disney in 1998.

D'Amaro will replace Iger on March 18, according to Disney's statement on Tuesday morning. Iger, who has effectively been at the helm of Disney since 2005, will remain on Disney's board through the end of the year.

Iger stepped down from the CEO role in February 2020 to be replaced by Bob Chapek, but he was reappointed as CEO in November 2022 after Chapek was ousted from the company.

As part of the executive move, Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment alongside D'Amaro, has been named Disney's president and chief creative officer, the company said.

The decision by Disney to appoint D'Amaro to the chief executive role caps off years-long speculation over which of Iger's top deputies would be tapped to lead one of the largest entertainment companies in the world.

Read the breaking news story.

Yahoo Finance's Daniel Howley previews what to watch when chipmaker AMD (AMD) posts its fourth quarter results after the market close.

He writes:

Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) reported their respective results last week, sparking wildly divergent reactions from traders: Many balked at Microsoft’s increased spending and more modest growth, but applauded Meta’s performance despite a massive jump in its own AI spending.

Despite consistent fears of an AI bubble and overspending, shares of AMD and rival Nvidia (NVDA) are up significantly over the last 12 months, with AMD climbing 114% and Nvidia rising 58%.

AMD, like Intel (INTC), is also contending with the global memory shortage, which could force PC makers to raise prices on laptops and desktops, impacting sales and hitting AMD’s consumer chip business.

AMD is expected to report Q4 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.32 on revenue of $9.6 billion, according to Bloomberg analyst consensus estimates. That would mark an increase from the $1.09 and $7.7 billion the company saw in the same quarter last year.

Read more here.

PayPal (PYPL) stock fell 15% before the bell on Tuesday after issuing a disappointing profit forecast for 2026 and reporting fourth quarter earnings below Wall Street estimates. The online payment company said it had been pressured by weaker US retail spending and slow growth within its branded checkout segment.

The group also named HP's (HP) Enrique Lores as president and CEO, effective ‌March 1.

Reuters reports:

Retail spending has softened as cautious consumers, squeezed by still-high interest rates, stubbornly high living costs and signs of a softening labor market, cut back on discretionary purchases and prioritize everyday necessities, a pattern highlighted by major retailers and consumer goods companies as households navigate tighter ⁠budgets.

PayPal expects full-year adjusted profit ‌to decline in the low-single digit percentage to increase slightly, compared with Wall Street expectations of about 8% growth, according to data compiled ‍by LSEG.

Read more here.

AES Corp (AES) stock jumped 7% before the bell on Tuesday after BlackRock Inc.’s (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners said be teaming up with EQT AB (6EQ.F, EQBBF) in its bid to buy the power company.

Bloomberg News reports:

The two investment firms could reach an agreement as soon as the coming weeks to buy AES, which provides renewable power to tech giants like Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), said the people. No final decision has been made and the talks could still drag on or fall through, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter is private.

Representatives for AES, GIP and EQT declined to comment.

Read more here.

Silver (SI=F) is surging almost 13% in premarket hours, bouncing back again as precious metals whipsaw after hitting the brakes on a historic run higher.

But the transformation from record rally to brutal three-day rout has left traders stunned, battering the retail investors who powered its spectacular rise, per the Financial Times.

The FT reports:

While US President Donald Trump’s selection of Kevin Warsh as his nominee to chair the Federal Reserve helped spark the rout in precious metals — with gold falling 21 per cent peak to trough before jumping 6 per cent on Tuesday — traders put its speed and brutality down to a speculative frenzy in recent weeks that has abruptly gone into reverse.

Traders said speculative investment from retail investors, particularly in Asia, was a key driver as prices marched higher in recent months. Individual traders poured a record $1 billion into silver exchange traded funds in January, according to data from Vanda Research — leaving them on the sharp end of the crash.

ETFs tracking gold and silver — often dubbed “gold on steroids” for its greater volatility — have lost about $150 billion of their value since the market peak last week, according to FT calculations.

January also saw a rush to secure physical supplies of silver as last year’s rally went into overdrive, with national mints struggling to keep up with demand for individual gold and silver coins. Refineries worked around the clock to melt down customers’ jewellery, dining sets and even old dental fillings.

But market participants say the speculative fervour was most evident in financial assets linked to precious metals.

Read more here (premium subscribers)

Bloomberg reports:

A global rush to secure memory chips for artificial intelligence is powering a renewed surge in South Korean equities, with chipmakers leading a rebound that pushed the Kospi (^KS11) to a fresh record on Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) shares jumped 11% on Korea Exchange, the most since 2008, while SK Hynix Inc. (000660.KS, HXSCL) added more than 9%. Both stocks recouped losses from the previous session.

The benchmark Kospi climbed nearly 7%, extending its gain for the year to 25% and solidifying its status as the world’s best-performing equity index.

Up more than 39% each this year, the chip duo have continued to set new records as investors embrace AI’s voracious demand for memory chips. Despite the torrid gains, few analysts see them as expensive thanks to strong earnings momentum and still-reasonable valuations.

“The structural shortage in memory chips makes the continued growth of Samsung and SK Hynix inevitable,” said Kim Namho, a fund manager at Timefolio Investment Management in Seoul.

Read more here.

NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) stock skidded over 5% lower in premarket hours after the semiconductor company's Automotive revenue failed to impress investors.

In the fourth quarter, NXP reported adjusted profits of $3.35 per share, surpassing Wall Street estimates for adjusted earnings of $3.31 per share. The company posted revenue of $3.34 billion, slightly above expectations for $3.3 billion.

\\"Throughout 2025, we executed effectively despite a challenging first half, maintaining operational discipline while advancing our strategic priorities in software defined vehicles and physical AI,\\" NXP's CEO Rafael Sotomayor said.

Revenue growth for NXP's Automotive segment, which contributes over half of NXP's total revenue, moderated to a 5% annual rate from the third quarter's 6% growth. The segment brought in $1.8 billion in Q4, which came in a bit lighter than expectations for $1.9 billion.

The Industrial and Internet of Things unit reported 24% annual revenue growth ($640 million), the Mobile unit reported 22% revenue growth ($485 million), and Communication Infrastructure declined by 18% year over year ($334 million).

For the first quarter, NXP forecast revenue of $3.15 billion at the midpoint and diluted earnings per share of $4.21, which were ahead of the Street's estimates for $3.09 billion in revenue and $2.95 per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Intel (INTC) stock rose almost 3% before the bell on Tuesday following the news that a subsidiary of Softbank (SFTBY, 9984.T), Saimemory, had signed a partnership deal with the US chipmaker. The agreement will help advance the commercialization of next-generation memory technology, according to an announcement from the companies.

Sandisk (SNDK) stock rose 4% during premarket hours after Bernstein SocGen raised its price target on the technology company to $1,000 from $580 and maintained an Outperform rating, citing the company's positive second-quarter earnings report.

Micron (MU) stock edged higher before the bell on Tuesday, climbing 2% after launching a $24 billion high-tech storage facility in Singapore to support its AI initiatives.

AMD (AMD) rose 2% during premarket hours on Tuesday. The chip company is preparing to report its fourth quarter earnings today. AMD stock has been up 10% over the past month and risen 14% year to date.

Alibaba's (BABA) US shares dipped 2% before the bell today following a sell off in Chinese technology stocks due to concerns about authorities placing a tax on internet firms.

Palantir stock (PLTR) surged around 12% in premarket trading after its late Monday earnings report, as US commercial and government revenue drove better-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter.

Yahoo Finance's Laura Bratton reports:

Palantir posted fourth quarter earnings and revenue above Wall Street’s expectations on Monday, bolstered by sales to the Trump administration and US businesses.

The company’s revenue surged 70% from the year-earlier period to $1.4 billion, ahead of the $1.3 billion expected by Wall Street analysts tracked by Bloomberg. Its adjusted earnings per share rose to $0.25 from $0.14 during the previous year, above the projected $0.23.

Palantir’s first quarter revenue guidance of $1.5 billion was also higher than the $1.3 billion estimated by analysts. And its full year revenue outlook of roughly $7.2 billion was above the expected $6.3 billion.

The firm’s outperformance in the fourth quarter was boosted by its domestic sales. Palantir’s US commercial revenue surged 137% to $507 million — greater than the $479 million projected — and its US government revenue jumped 66% to $570 million — more than analysts’ estimate of $522 million for the segment.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Gold (GC=F) rose, clawing back some losses after the abrupt unwinding of a record-breaking rally that had driven prices down 13% in just two days. Silver (SI=F) also advanced.

Spot gold climbed as much as 4.2% to over $4,855 an ounce, after falling 4.8% in the previous session to extend a slump on Friday that was the steepest in more than a decade. Silver rose as much as 8.1% – taking it above $85 and erasing the previous day’s loss – before paring gains.

“The foundations supporting gold today are largely unchanged from those that prevailed prior to the correction on Friday,” Ahmad Assiri, a market strategist at Pepperstone Group Ltd. said by email. “That said, volatility is likely to remain heightened in the near term as markets continue to digest the recent dislocation and reassess risk appetite.”

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

TDK Corp (6762.T). shares surged 11% after the Japanese electronics components maker raised its full-year operating profit forecast, citing stronger-than-expected demand and a weaker yen.

The Apple Inc. (AAPL) supplier’s stock price jumped by its most intraday since April last year. The company the previous day lifted its operating income outlook for the year ending March by 8% to ¥265 billion ($1.7 billion), ahead of the average of analyst estimates. The company also raised its net income and sales forecasts, and it raised its dividend projection to ¥34 a share.

TDK said sales of batteries and sensors expanded following new smartphone launches, while demand for hard disk drives used in data centers remained firm. Rising memory prices pose limited risk to its operations, which skew toward high-end smartphones, executives said.

Read more here.