5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens

Stock futures are pointing to a lower open as the rally that started 2026 has lost its momentum; defense sector stocks are surging after President Donald Trump said that the 2027 budget should include a substantial hike in defense spending; Google parent Alphabet has a larger market capitalization than Apple for the first time since 2019; JPMorgan Chase has reached a deal to take over the Apple Card program from Goldman Sachs; and Applied Digital’s shares are jumping after the data center provider reported a 250% increase in quarterly revenue. Here’s what you need to know today.

Stocks Pointing Lower as Year-Opening Rally Stalls

Stock futures are slightly lower after two of the three major indexes declined on Wednesday. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were recently down 0.2%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.4%. The Dow and S&P 500 hit all-time highs early in yesterday’s session but ended the day lower. Bitcoin was at $89,700 this morning, down from an overnight high of $91,500 and an early-week high near $95,000. Gold futures are losing ground for the second straight day—falling 0.8% to $4,430 an ounce—after surging early in the week as investors turned to the safe haven amid geopolitical uncertainty created by the U.S. ouster of Venezuela’s president. Crude oil futures were up 1.5% at $56.85 per barrel, after losing ground the last two days, as investors continue to assess the potential impact of developments in oil-rich Venezuela. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up to 4.16%.

Defense Stocks Surge as Trump Says Military Budget Should Increase

Shares of several defense contractors—including Northrop Grumman (NOC), Lockheed Martin (LMT), General Dynamics (GD) and RTX Corp. (RTX)—are sharply higher after President Trump said that defense spending should increase. “For the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars,” Trump said in a social media post late Wednesday afternoon. In fiscal 2025, the Department of Defense had a budget of $850 billion, and in May 2025 the White House included in its budget request to Congress for fiscal 2026 a proposal to increase defense spending by more than $113 billion. Defense stocks had lost ground on Wednesday when Trump said that defense contractors should not be able to buy back their own stock or pay out dividends. Shares of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin were each up about 8% in recent premarket trading, while General Dynamics and RTX added 6% and 4%, respectively.

Alphabet Leapfrogs Apple in Market Cap For First Time Since 2019

Alphabet (GOOGL) continues its move up the ranks of the world’s most valuable companies. On Wednesday, the Google parent’s market capitalization hit $3.89 trillion, inching ahead of Apple (AAPL) for second place on the list. It’s the first time since 2019 that Alphabet’s market value is higher than Apple’s, according to CNBC. Both companies remain well below Nvidia’s (NVDA) $4.6 trillion market cap, while Microsoft (MSFT) is currently the fourth most valuable company at $3.59 trillion. Alphabet and Apple have taken different paths in the current AI race, with Google consistently releasing new models and products around its Gemini chatbot and other image and video generation services. Apple has moved at a slower pace, partnering with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to Siri and launching iPhone lines without many of the AI features it has advertised in recent keynotes. Alphabet shares have gained 66% over the past 12 months, while Apple has risen 7% during the period. Alphabet shares are up another 1.5% premarket, while Apple is down 1%.

JPMorgan Chase Set to Take Over Apple Card Program From Goldman Sachs

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) will take over as the backer of Apple’s credit card program, replacing Goldman Sachs (GS) after more than a year of reported negotiations to do so. The companies announced the deal late Wednesday, confirming a Wall Street Journal report that an agreement had been reached. Goldman is reportedly offloading the roughly $20 billion in card balances at a $1 billion or more discount, the Journal reported, reflecting the program’s exposure to subprime borrowers and delinquency rates. Apple said that the card’s benefits of 3% cash back and other perks will stay the same, and that Mastercard (MA) will remain the payment processor, after reports last year suggested that Visa (V) was bidding to replace Mastercard. The companies said the transition is expected to be completed in about two years. Executives from both companies could offer more information on the deal when they report their next quarterly earnings, on Jan. 13 for JPMorgan and Jan. 29 for Apple.

Applied Digital Shares Jump as Revenue Blows Pasts Expectations

Shares of Applied Digital (APLD) are rising after the data center provider topped estimates in its latest quarterly results. In the fiscal second quarter, Applied Digital’s revenue soared 250% to $126.6 million, while the company roughly broke even with an adjusted profit of $0.1 million. Analysts had expected about $110.3 million in revenue, and a small adjusted loss, according to Visible Alpha. The company said it has now signed two data center leases with AI hyperscalers to lease facilities in North Dakota, and that they are in talks with a third. Shares were up more than 6% in premarket trading Thursday, and have more than tripled in value in the last 12 months.