Dow Jones futures were little changed Friday morning along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. Applied Materials, Reddit and Advanced Micro Devices
The stock market rally is right around record highs, with the Dow Jones briefly topping 40,000 intraday Thursday.
Microsoft will offer cloud-computing customers the option of using AI chips from Advanced Micro Devices instead of Nvidia AI processors. AMD stock rose, trying to reclaim a key level.
Nvidia is holding in a buy range while Microsoft is just below an early entry.
Applied Materials edged higher after a beat-and-raise report, trading around a buy point. Reddit stock skyrocketed on an alliance with Microsoft-backed OpenAI, signaling a possible buying opportunity.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures tilted lower vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures were roughly flat. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% in Thursday's stock market trading. The S&P 500 index declined 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.3%.
The 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 4.4% after rising two basis points to 4.38% on Thursday.
Remember that premarket action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Earnings
Applied Materials earnings and guidance beat views. AMAT stock tilted higher before the open, signaling a move back above a buy point after slipping overnight. Shares fell 1.5% to 214.17 on Thursday. Applied Materials stock rallied 3.7% on Wednesday to clear a 214.91 flat-base buy point.
Copart earnings were in line, with CPRT stock falling slightly in extended action. The salvage auto auction company declined 1.4% to 54.55 on Thursday, hitting resistance at the 50-day line. Copart stock has a 58.58 flat-base buy point, according to MarketSurge.
Reddit-Open AI Partnership
Reddit soared Friday morning on a new partnership with Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
The social media site will give OpenAI access to Reddit's Data API, letting the artificial intelligence startup learn from Reddit content in real time. Reddit's platform will get AI-powered features. OpenAI and Reddit will be advertising partners.
Reddit stock jumped 10% in premarket trade to above 62. Shares are working on an IPO base with a 74.90 buy point. But investors could use Tuesday's high of 64.50 as an early entry.
RDDT stock rallied early in the week, getting a boost from the meme stock revival. Various subreddits have been a center for meme stock investing. Shares had pulled back Wednesday-Friday as GameStop and other meme stocks fell back.
Reddit, which came public in March, pulled back from early morning highs as GameStop slumped on preliminary Q1 sales.
Microsoft-AMD AI Chips
Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing service will provide a platform for customers who wish to use AMD's Mi300X AI chips as an alternative to Nvidia's H100 line, Reuters reported. The Dow tech giant reportedly will offer more information at its Build developer conference next week.
Nvidia's AI chips dominate the sector but can be hard to get due to high demand.
Microsoft also will unveil its in-house Cobalt 100 processors at the event. The Cobalt 100 processor uses designs from Arm Holdings.
AMD Stock
AMD stock rose more than 2% early Friday. Shares have jumped 7% so far this week but backed off its 50-day and 10-week lines Thursday.
Nvidia stock edged lower before the open. Shares are up 5% so far this week, above a 922.20 cup-with-handle buy point. The AI chip leader broke out Wednesday with a 3.6% gain.
Microsoft stock edged higher in premarket trade. Shares dipped 0.5% to 420.99 on Thursday but are up 1.5% this week. MSFT stock has a 430.82 flat-base buy point, but a move above Thursday's high of 425.42 would offer an early entry.
Keep in mind that Nvidia earnings are due May 22. Those results and guidance are sure to have a huge impact on NVDA stock, AMD and many other AI plays, including Microsoft.
Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971 and X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.
