Wednesday’s optimism did not last the night. US stock futures turned sharply lower on Thursday as a jump in oil prices and a pullback in technology shares erased the early cheer that followed Tesla and Meta’s earnings reports.
By early morning in New York, Dow Jones futures were down about 0.7 percent, S&P 500 futures had lost around 1 percent, and Nasdaq-100 futures were off as much as 1.7 percent. The moves pointed to a weaker open after all three major indices closed higher on Wednesday.
Oil takes centre stage
The main culprit was crude. Brent rose to about $112 a barrel after attacks on Saudi Arabian infrastructure, reviving worries that energy costs will keep inflation elevated and borrowing costs high. As one market note put it, a spike in oil prices amid escalating conflict in the Middle East has put inflation concerns back at the front of investors’ minds.
Chip stocks, which led Wednesday’s rally, gave ground, dragging the Nasdaq futures lower. The Federal Reserve meets on October 28, and while markets expect a pause, traders see a good chance of a rate rise in December.
Tesla: a beat, but a spending surprise
Tesla’s third-quarter results beat Wall Street’s estimates on profit, helped by stronger margins, and deliveries of 486,532 vehicles topped forecasts. Yet the shares fell between 3 and 5 percent in extended trading and stayed lower in the morning.
Reports on the company’s call point to a reason: Tesla trimmed its 2026 capital spending forecast to roughly $20 billion from more than $25 billion, while signalling higher outlays in 2027 and 2028 on projects including its Optimus robot, the Cybercab robotaxi and a large chip manufacturing effort known as Terafab. Investors appeared to weigh the lower near-term figure against bigger bills ahead.
Tesla also drew attention for the merger question. Elon Musk said the company and SpaceX have set up special committees of independent directors to study a possible combination. Nothing has been agreed.
Meta gives back its gains
Meta rose about 2 percent after hours on revenue of $64.6 billion, up 26 percent. By Thursday morning it had slipped roughly 1 percent. The company also announced a new class of non-voting Class C shares, to be distributed through a one-time stock dividend that works like a two-for-one split, and raised the lower end of its 2026 capital spending range to $135 billion to $145 billion.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s AI investments are paying off. Some investors, however, are wary of a structure that could let Meta raise money or pay for deals with shares that carry no vote, leaving his control intact.
Other earnings in focus
IBM and Texas Instruments also reported on Wednesday evening and their results helped lift sentiment briefly in after-hours trading, though much of that was reversed as the macro backdrop worsened. Texas Instruments is closely watched as a read on demand for industrial and automotive chips.
How Wednesday closed
For reference, the Dow ended Wednesday at 52,856, up about 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 at 7,757, up about 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite at 26,703, up about 1.1 percent. The S&P 500 extended its winning streak to three sessions.
What to watch for the rest of the day
Futures can change quickly after the opening bell, so Thursday’s close may look quite different from the early indications. Key factors include the path of oil, any news from the Gulf, moves in Treasury yields, and whether buyers step in to support the technology shares that sold off.
The bigger test lies ahead, with more mega-cap earnings in the coming days and the Fed decision next week. Until those pass, expect sharp swings in either direction.
