Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures rise after tariffs, AI ignite Wall Street's latest sell-off
US stock futures ticked higher on Tuesday, attempting to stabilize after Wall Street gauges kicked off the final stretch of February with steep losses led by fears of AI disruption and tariff whiplash.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose 0.1%. Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) climbed roughly 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) also added 0.2%.
The cautious rebound follows a sharp sell-off on Monday as investors grappled with renewed concerns that rapid advances in artificial intelligence could disrupt broad swaths of corporate America. The blue-chip Dow (^DJI) led the slump, which pushed the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) and S&P 500 (^GSPC).
Confusion over US trade deals was also still keeping markets on edge, as President Trump's new global tariff took effect on Tuesday at 10%. The White House is working on a formal order to raise the rate to 15%, per Bloomberg, as threatened by Trump. Spurring uncertainty, the EU warned that the levy breaches a trade deal agreed last year, while Japan called on the US to make sure it isn't left worse off, too.
Looking ahead, investors are laser-focused on AI developments. Sector leaders Anthropic is set to host a key event Tuesday featuring product updates and demonstrations of new features. Anthropic's release of industry-targeted AI tools has led trends of sell-offs in those industries, with Tuesday holding the potential for further pressure in cybersecurity and software firms.
On the economic front, traders will parse the latest consumer confidence data Tuesday, along with earnings from Home Depot (HD). Attention Wednesday will turn to results from Nvidia (NVDA), Salesforce (CRM), and Snowflake (SNOW).
Hims & Hers (HIMS) reported lower profits in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago, sending the stock down more than 5% in premarket trading.
The telehealth and drug platform reported earnings per share of $0.08, beating Wall Street estimates for $0.05 but falling from $0.11 per share a year ago, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Revenue of $617.8 million was roughly in line with estimates.
One bright spot in the earnings release was Hims & Hers 2026 revenue forecast, which came in above estimates.
Reuters reports:
The company then reversed course on its plans after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would take action against manufacturers mixing ingredients to produce copies of GLP-1 drugs, referring it to the Department of Justice for potential violations of federal law.
The company forecast 2026 revenue to be in the range of $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion, compared to estimates of $2.74 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG.
Read more here.
Bloomberg reports:
Anthropic is offering some current and former employees the ability to sell shares in the company at a valuation of about $350 billion, according to people familiar with the matter — allowing them to cash in at the level of a recent $30 billion fundraising.
The company has lined up $5 billion to $6 billion for the share sale, but the final amount will depend on how many eligible Anthropic employees opt to sell, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The details have not been finalized and could still change.
Anthropic’s latest funding round, completed earlier this month, valued the company at $380 billion post-money, including the cash investors put in. Anthropic declined to comment on the new share sale.
Read more here.