US Stocks Likely To Open On A Mixed Note: Netflix, PepsiCo, TSM Earnings In Focus

U.S. stock futures were swinging between gains and losses on Thursday after ending higher on Wednesday. Futures of major benchmark indices were mixed.

Reports that President Donald Trump might be getting ready to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from his position have sparked fears about the Fed’s independence. These concerns led to a widespread rush into gold and a sell-off of the U.S. dollar.

Investors await Netflix Inc. NFLX earnings and June’s retail sales data, scheduled to be released later today.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.47% and the two-year bond was at 3.91%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 97.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping the current interest rates unchanged in its July meeting.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were slightly higher in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 0.075% at $624.69, while the QQQ advanced 0.17% to $558.23, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

Financial, real estate, and healthcare sectors led gains on Wednesday, contributing to a higher close for U.S. stocks. However, energy and communication services bucked the trend, finishing lower.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS reported better-than-expected second-quarter results, driven by robust gains in its global banking and trading divisions. Bank of America Corp. BAC also posted strong second-quarter financial earnings.

On the economic data front, the Producer Price Index was flat in June, down from a 0.3% gain in May and below the 0.2% consensus forecast. On a year-over-year basis, producer prices rose 2.3%, the slowest pace since September 2024 and softer than the 2.5% economists had expected.

The Dow Jones index ended 231 points or 0.53% higher at 44,254.78, whereas the S&P 500 index rose 0.32% to 6,263.70. Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.25% to 20,730.49, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, also gained 0.99% to end at 2,226.98.

Insights From Analysts:

While the Fed’s Beige Book, released Wednesday, stated that businesses that did not raise prices or pass on the impact of tariffs to their customers are likely to take a hit on their profit margins.

Jeffrey Roach, the chief economist at LPL Financial, told Benzinga that "Investors should expect margin compression as businesses held off raising prices because of customers' growing price sensitivity."

Roach's macro quicktake was that Beige Book reveals "heavier margin compression" in the coming months, cautioning the investors and consumers.

“We’re hearing from a lot of businesses that a lot of companies are going to absorb tariffs in their margins over time, maybe three to five years in some cases, and slowly pass the costs along,” said Alex Coffey, senior trading and derivatives strategist at Schwab.

Meanwhile, Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates supported Trump calling out Powell and said “Obviously, President Trump will continue to bash Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and push for multiple key interest rate cuts, since higher rates are hindering real estate and other major sectors of the U.S. economy.”

Angelo Kourkafas, of Edward Jones, stated that earnings growth for the S&P 500 is expected to slow in the second quarter to around 5% from the more than 10% in the prior two quarters.

However, he said that for the full year, estimates call for 8.5% growth, which, if realized, would be above the index’s long-term average of 6.5%.

“Lingering uncertainties suggest that there could be some more volatility around these expectations, but next year’s backdrop appears to be more favorable, as corporate profits may reaccelerate amid lower rates and modest fiscal stimulus from the tax bill,” he added.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will keep an eye on Thursday:

• The initial jobless claims data for the week ended July 5, June retail sales, import price index, and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey will all be out by 8:30 a.m. ET.
• May’s business inventories data and July’s home builder confidence index data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.
• Fed Governor Adriana Kugler will speak at 10:00 a.m., San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will speak at 12:45 p.m., Fed Governor Lisa Cook will speak at 1:30 p.m., and Fed Governor Christopher Waller will speak at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Stocks In Focus:

• Netflix Inc. NFLX was up 0.36% in premarket on Thursday as analysts expect it to report earnings of $7.06 per share on revenue of $11.04 billion after the closing bell.
• PepsiCo Inc. PEP was 0.33% above the flatline as it is expected to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts estimate earnings of $2.03 per share on revenue of $22.29 billion.
• Kopin Corp. KOPN jumped 7.73% following the establishment of its comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework.
• Crown LNG Holdings Ltd. CGBS plummeted 55.26% after it received a letter from NASDAQ on Tuesday, notifying the company of its noncompliance with Nasdaq Listing Rules 5250(c)(1) and 5550(a)(2), according to a SEC Filing.
• 22nd Century Group Inc. XXII surged 172.27% following the company's announcement of expanding partnerships for its VLN-based reduced nicotine content products, according to a company statement.
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. TSM advanced 4.50% net revenue in the June quarter, rising 38.65% from a year ago to NT$933.80 billion or $31.7 billion, beating estimates.
• AAR Corp. AIR gained 4.17% after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter. The quarterly earnings of $1.16 per share exceeded the analyst consensus estimate of $1.01 per share.
• United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL declined 2.94% despite posting better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, but it lowered its full-year 2025 earnings outlook. Also, the company’s sales missed market expectations.
• General Electric Co. GE was 1.06% higher as analysts expect it to report earnings of $1.41 per share on revenue of $9.52 billion before the opening bell.

Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.41% to hover around $66.65 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.48% to hover around $3,331.59 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $3,500.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was higher by 0.24% at the 98.6320 level.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday except India's S&P BSE Sensex and Hong Kong's Hang Seng indices. Japan's Nikkei 225, Australia's ASX 200, China’s CSI 300, and South Korea's Kospi indices rose. European markets were mostly higher in early trade.

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