Tech led US stock futures higher on Thursday as investors waited for Amazon earnings and assessed fresh signals from Alphabet, following a sharp sell-off that hit technology stocks earlier in the day.

S&P 500 futures (ES=F) moved up roughly 0.3%, while those on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) rose 0.5%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F), which includes fewer tech names, hovered just below the flat line.

Wall Street is digesting another batch of corporate earnings, with Big Tech and AI prospects in high focus. Alphabet (GOOG) shares fell 1% in premarket after the Google parent outlined a significant ramp-up in AI investment in its quarterly results. The company projects a rise in spending to as high as $185 billion in 2026.

That outlook helped lift stocks of AI infrastructure-linked companies such as chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), amid renewed optimism around long-term demand tied to the data center buildout. But Qualcomm (QCOM) shares tumbled after the chipmaker issued a softer-than-expected forecast, citing headwinds from a global memory shortage.

Looking ahead, earnings remain in focus, with Amazon (AMZN) taking focus Thursday. Investors will also be watching weekly jobless claims data due in the morning for fresh clues on the health of the labor market.

Software names bore the brunt of a decline Wednesday as Anthropic's new tools fed concerns about AI disruption to demand for traditional business software.

Crypto markets were also rattled following a comment from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said the government would not bail out bitcoin (BTC-USD) after a slump that has pushed the token to around $71,000 apiece.

Qualcomm (QCOM) stock fell around 11% in premarket trading on Thursday after the chip designer's results beat on the top and bottom lines but its forecast was lighter than expected. A memory chip shortage stemming from data center developers scooping up chips and chipmakers shifting production to cater to AI demand added pressure to the company's outlook.

In the fiscal first quarter, the company said revenue increased 5% year over year to $12.3 billion, while earnings per share rose to $2.78. Qualcomm beat analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines, with consensus estimates forecasting $12.1 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $2.75, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

However, the outlook for the fiscal second quarter dimmed as a supply crunch in memory chips weighs on margins and the smartphone market.

Second quarter revenue is expected in the range of $10.2 billion to $11 billion (analysts were looking for $11 billion at the midpoint). Adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.45 to $2.65 (the Street was hoping for $2.87).

\\"While our near-term handsets outlook is impacted by industry-wide memory supply constraints, we are encouraged by end-consumer demand for premium and high tier smartphones, and remain on track to achieve our fiscal 2029 revenue goals,” Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said in the earnings release.

Reuters reports:

PC makers HP (HPQ), Dell (DELL), Acer (2353.TW) and Asus (7801.TWO) are considering sourcing memory chips from Chinese ​chipmakers for the first time amid a global ‌supply crunch that is threatening product launches and pushing up costs across ‌the tech industry, Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. HP, Dell, Acer and Asus did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

This comes at ⁠a time when global ‌electronics supply chains are grappling with an acute shortage of memory chips - an essential fixture ‍across devices from smartphones to data centers.

HP has started qualifying products from Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) to expand supply alternatives, ​Nikkei Asia said citing people familiar with the matter.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Gold (GC=F) rose, pushing back above $5,000 an ounce, as dip buyers continued to snap up bullion after a historic plunge from an all-time high.

Spot gold climbed as much as 1.2% in early trading, having clawed back some losses over the previous two sessions following an abrupt collapse. At Wednesday’s close, the metal was down 11% from an all-time high hit on Jan. 29 but was still up 15% for the year. Silver also advanced, crossing $90 an ounce.

Precious metals soared last month in a rally underpinned by speculative momentum, geopolitical upheaval and concerns about the Federal Reserve’s independence. The surge came to a sudden halt at the end of last week, with silver seeing its biggest ever daily drop on Friday and gold plunging the most since 2013.

Read more here.