Preview of US Stock Market | Three major stock index futures rise together, Micron Technology earnings report and Nvidia shareholders' meeting strike tonight.

Pre-market market trends 1. Before the US stock market on June 24 (Wednesday), the futures of the three major US stock indexes rose. As of the writing of this report, Dow Jones futures rose by 0.08%, S&P 500 index futures rose by 0.32%, and Nasdaq futures rose by 0.55%. 2. As of the writing of this report, the German DAX index fell by 1.22%, the UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.04%, the French CAC 40 index rose by 0.26%, and the European Stoxx 50 index fell by 0.29%. 3. As of the writing of this report, WTI crude oil fell by 2.46%, to $71.41 per barrel. Brent crude oil fell by 2.27%, to $75.06 per barrel. Market News Barclays and Stifel see strong profits and a year-end target of 7800 points for the S&P 500. Despite recent sell-offs in the US stock market, Barclays and Stifel, two Wall Street institutions, released reports on the strong prospects for corporate earnings and raised the year-end target for the S&P 500 index to 7800 points. Barclays analyst Venu Krishna's team stated, "The logic of the stock market bull market remains intact, but visibility on profits and AI capital expenditures needs to play a bigger role as the support from the Fed's policy fades." Barclays raised its 2026 S&P 500 earnings per share forecast from $321 to $337 and for the first time gave a forecast of 8800 points for the index in 2027. However, the path to growth is not without challenges. Barclays warned in the report that growing inflation concerns and a strong labor market have raised worries about Fed rate hikes, which could impact stock market performance. Stifel's stock market strategist, Thomas Carroll, also sees strong profits as a key catalyst for the market to continue moving higher. However, he also noted signs of continued rotation of mega-cap stocks. US-Iran technical talks to continue on June 30. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahil Andrabi stated on the 24th that technical talks between the US and Iran would continue on June 30. Andrabi stated at a regular press conference that technical teams from Pakistan and Qatar would continue to closely communicate with the US-Iran technical teams in the coming weeks to ensure the effective implementation of the US-Iran understanding memorandum. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry further stated that although there have been occasional interruptions in the technical talks between Iran and the US, both sides are still continuing. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.: Expects the return to the 2% era for US core PCE inflation by 2027. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.'s inflation forecast indicates that while US core inflation will be supported in 2026 by energy price transmission, rising costs of AI-related products, and demand pressure from a booming stock market, overall inflation trends will gradually decrease. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. predicts that the US core PCE inflation rate will briefly remain around 3% in 2026 before dropping and approaching 2% by 2027. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. believes that the process of the final decline in US inflation, although slow, will eventually converge towards the Fed's 2% target. Tech stock selloff ignites the "domino effect"!Gold price suffers bloodletting, falls below $4100, and safe-haven assets turn into liquidity blood banks. Due to the sell-off caused by the tech stocks on Wall Street, investors have cut down their gold holdings to cover losses in other areas of their portfolios, leading to further declines in the price of gold. As of the report, spot gold fell by over 1%, to $4057 per ounce. Although gold is considered a safe-haven investment, during major cross-market sell-off periods, it tends to fall due to acting as a source of liquidity. The tech stock selloff has added further pressure to gold, which had already been suppressed by inflation concerns - inflation risks imply that the Fed will raise interest rates. It is worth noting that several international banks have recently downgraded their gold price expectations. Hormuz reopening rewrites the inflation script! Barclays, which had been shouting for a $200 oil price, slashes its expectations for Brent crude. The international financial giant Barclays has significantly lowered its benchmark forecasts for international oil prices in 2026 and 2027, mainly due to the expectation that oil flows from the Middle East will rapidly return to normalcy under the framework of the US-Iran peace agreement, reopening the Hormuz Strait. Barclays strategist predicts that the average price of Brent crude oil in 2026 will be $77 per barrel, significantly lower than its previous forecast of $89 per barrel and the $200 projection under extreme environments of the US-Iran conflict. The institution has also revised its 2027 Brent average price forecast from $74 per barrel to $64 per barrel. The strategist wrote that although many obstacles may hinder the rapid normalization of Middle East oil production and trade flows, the overall adjustment speed of producers in the region may be faster than the market generally expects. Stock News Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) fiscal reports affecting global tech stocks!Micron Technology, Inc. is expected to announce its third-quarter results after the US stock market on Wednesday. Wall Street analysts unanimously expect Micron Technology, Inc. to report earnings per share of $20.57 and revenue of approximately $35.25 billion, indicating a 1000% year-on-year increase in earnings per share and a 279% year-on-year increase in revenue. Given the current high valuation and crowded positions in the AI computing infrastructure sector, as well as widespread concerns that the current rally may be overextended, the upcoming Micron Technology, Inc. financial report is of significant importance. If the financial report indicates continued strong demand for underlying AI computing power and robust AI-related capital expenditures, it will boost market confidence and support the continuation of the AI bull market. At the same time, the options market is betting on continued significant price fluctuations for Micron Technology, Inc. After the financial report, the stock price is expected to fluctuate by around 14%, equivalent to a market value change of over $150 billion. While sentiment is bullish, the market is also actively preparing for the possibility of Micron Technology, Inc.'s performance falling short of expectations or weak future growth guidance and outlook leading to sell-offs. Traders are still buying high-priced protective options to guard against further price declines. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) shareholders' meeting to be held soon. NVIDIA Corporation will hold its annual shareholders' meeting online at 00:00 on June 25 Beijing time. The NVIDIA Corporation shareholders' meeting is not happening it a calm environment but is under the pressure of a cooling semiconductor sector, hawkish expectations from the Fed, and a rising narrative of the AI bubble. The focus of this meeting will be on the ramp-up of production capacities for the Blackwell and the new Vera architecture chips, the commercialization progress of the AI ecosystem, and the capital return plan for the company's substantial cash flow. The Blackwell architecture is the core product line for NVIDIA Corporation in 2026, designed to provide higher computing power density and efficiency for the training of next-generation AI large models. At the shareholders' meeting, NVIDIA Corporation is expected to disclose data on the production capacity ramp-up for Blackwell. If delivery exceeds expectations, it would directly demonstrate that the demand for AI is not waning but is still growing - countering the "AI bubble" narrative. Additionally, if NVIDIA Corporation can showcase a prototype or roadmap for Vera at the shareholders' meeting, it will inject new certainty into the long-term growth narrative for AI chips. Furthermore, the discussion at the shareholders' meeting on the capital return plan may include dividend increases, accelerated buybacks, and strategic investments. For investors, the capital return plan is not just about how much is being distributed but also a signal of the management's confidence in the sustainability of future cash flows. If NVIDIA Corporation significantly increases its buyback scale, this would indicate that management believes the current stock price is undervalued - serving as a strong anchor for valuation bottoms. Stocks hot, bonds cold! SpaceX (SPCX.US) $250 billion bond debut falls short of expectations, trillion-dollar market value faces skepticism from the bond market. Although credit rating agencies have stated that SpaceX is highly qualified and meets the standards of investment-grade companies, the bond market's attitude is much more cautious. As part of a $250 billion financing plan, SpaceX issued bonds maturing in 2036, which were ultimately priced with a premium of 1.4 percentage points over comparable US treasuries, representing a spread of about 0.4 percentage points above the average level for BBB-rated bonds. This premium reflects that despite SpaceX making history this month with the largest IPO and receiving significant interest from the capital markets, when issuing bonds for the first time, Elon Musk's rocket, satellite, and AI empire is facing a more composed group of bond buyers. However, the spread level is enough to pique the interest of bond investors. During the peak subscription period, orders reached nearly $90 billion, and although they fell to $73 billion at the pricing level, it still exceeded the issuance size by a large margin. Data shows that the final subscription multiple was less than three times, below the average of four times seen for high-quality corporate bonds this year. AI chip newcomer Cerebras (CBRS.US) releases its first financial report: Annual guidance growth of only 69%, though surpassing expectations, is still unable to satisfy the market's appetite. Cerebras' first financial report shows that first-quarter revenue surged by 94% to $1.934 billion, exceeding the market's expected $1.814 billion; net loss was $14 million, better than the expected loss of $58.6 million; earnings per share was $0.22, also beating market expectations. However, the company expects revenue to reach $855 million to $865 million in 2026, representing a 69% increase year-on-year when calculated at the median. According to compiled data, analysts' average forecast is $8.248 billion. While the full-year revenue guidance exceeds expectations, like other competitors, Cerebras must tackle investors' high expectations, as the market had originally hoped for the company to capture a larger share of the AI chip market. As of the report, Cerebras fell by over 11% pre-market on Wednesday. FedEx Corporation (FDX.US) Q4 profit exceeds expectations but still faces sell-offs, cost erosion and macro headwinds as triggers. According to the financial report, in the fourth quarter ending on May 31, FedEx Corporation's adjusted earnings per share were $6.31, significantly higher than the market's expected $5.96 per share; quarterly revenue increased by 12.6% year-on-year to $25 billion, exceeding the market's expected $24.04 billion. However, this bright profit performance did not hide the significant pressure the company is facing operationally. Core operating profit margins for FedEx Corporation fell from 8.4% in the same period last year to 7.7%. The company's overall profit margin dropped to 8.4%, below analyst expectations. The company expects adjusted earnings per share for 2026 to be between $16.90 and $18.10, an increase from the estimated $15 for 2025, and expects revenue to grow by 11% in the new fiscal year. Analysts pointed out that the new profit target is "slightly lower than market expectations, giving the management room to adjust guidance based on annual progress." As of the report, FedEx Corporation fell by over 6% pre-market on Wednesday. Qualcomm (QCOM.US) accelerates "de-phonification"!Reportedly in talks with ByteDance for custom chip design services. According to four sources familiar with the matter, Qualcomm is negotiating with Chinese company ByteDance to provide chip design services. This move indicates that the US chip giant is seeking to reduce its dependence on the smartphone market, its largest source of revenue. If successful, ByteDance will become an early customer of Qualcomm's chip design services. Two sources revealed that the chip will be partially based on the technology owned by AlphaWave Semi, a high-speed connectivity specialist company acquired by Qualcomm last year. Three sources stated that negotiations are ongoing, and the final outcome is uncertain. Important Economic Data and Events Preview June 25, 01:00 AM Beijing time: NVIDIA Corporation's annual shareholders' meeting June 25, 04:00 AM Beijing time: Fed to report annual bank stress test results Earnings Preview Thursday Morning: Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US), Trip.com Group Ltd. Sponsored ADR (TCOM.US) Thursday Pre-market: Yiren Digital (YRD.US)