Updated 1 min read
US stock futures leaned higher on Thursday as investors digested minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting and geared up for Walmart (WMT) earnings for insight into the American consumer.
Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) ticked about 0.2% higher, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) moved up 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) hovered just above the flatline, following a solid advance across the major benchmarks the previous session.
Investors parsed minutes from the Fed’s January meeting, which revealed deep divides among policymakers regarding the path forward for interest rates. But even as the minutes revealed talk of potential rate hikes amid stubborn inflation, investor expectations for two rate cuts by the end of the year were not immediately swayed.
On the economic calendar, traders will turn their focus to weekly jobless claims data due Thursday, along with the pending home sales report.
Earnings continue, with Walmart (WMT) acting as a bellwether for the health of the retail sector, reporting before the market opens Thursday.
Elsewhere, tariff headlines have returned as President Trump’s administration lashed out against the New York Federal Reserve. The regional Fed bank earned the White House’s ire by releasing a report indicating that US consumers and businesses are bearing the brunt of the fiscal weight of Trump’s favorite economic tool.
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Ebay rises after Q4 earnings beat and Depop buy
eBay (EBAY) stock rose 7% before the bell on Thursday following the release of its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday, which beat analysts’ estimates. Sales rose 15% to 2.97 billion, ahead of the $2.88 billion analysts expected.
The e-commerce company also announced that it will acquire Depop from Etsy (ETSY) for $1.2 billion, in the hope of attracting younger consumers to the online auction site.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
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DoorDash stock rises after company reports mixed fourth quarter results
DoorDash (DASH) reported fourth quarter results that slightly missed Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines, while total orders rose more than forecast.
Earnings per share came in at $0.48, compared with the $0.55 the Street had forecast. But adjusted EBITDA reached $780 million in the quarter — up 38% compared to a year ago and almost $5 million above the Street’s estimates.
Meanwhile, revenue grew 28% year over year to $3.96 billion, a tick lower than the nearly $4 billion Wall Street predicted. Total orders, which means all orders through its marketplaces and commerce platform, also jumped 32% to 903 million in the quarter. That’s more than the 888 million analysts had anticipated.
Its stock rose as much as 13% during premarket hours on Thursday.
Marketplace GOV — the total dollar value of transactions completed through the marketplace, including taxes, tips, and fees related to DashPass and its international platform Wolt+, clocked in at $29.7 billion compared to the expected $29.1 billion.
That was driven higher by growth in new customers and order rates among existing customers in the US restaurant category.
For the first quarter of 2026, the company expects marketplace GOV to be in the range of $31.0 billion to $31.8 billion, above the Street’s forecast of $30.75 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $675 million to $775 million, which is below what the Street predicted of $800 million.
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Oil holds onto biggest gain since October as US-Iran fears swirl
Oil steadied after its biggest daily gain since October, following an Axios report that American military intervention in Iran could come sooner than expected.
Bloomberg reports:
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OpenAI approaches end of $100 billion funding phase
Bloomberg reports:
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Carvana stock plummets after missing analyst EBITDA estimates
Carvana (CVNA) stock hit a rough patch as investors took poorly to an earnings report highlighting high expenses in a push for extreme growth.
Bloomberg reports:
