US stock futures fall as investors await key inflation report
U.S. stock futures point to a lower open as investors await a key inflation report, due before the market opens.
April's annual consumer price index is expected to remain at 2.4% from March, according to the Dow Jones consensus. Core inflation, excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, is also expected to be unchanged at a 2.8% annual rate.
At 6:45 a.m. ET, futures linked to the blue-chip Dow index fell -0.28%, while broad S&P 500 futures dropped -0.29% and tech-laden Nasdaq futures slipped -0.30%.
"It's possible that a hotter-than-expected inflation report could cause a bit of an equity market pullback," said BeiChen Lin, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments.
A pullback would come off the heels of a strong rally on Monday after the U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs. Effective from Wednesday, the U.S. will temporarily reduce tariffs on China to 30%, down from 145%, and China will reduce tariffs on U.S. goods to 10%, down from 125%. The S&P 500 touched a more than two-month high and the Dow soared more than 1,100 points.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is joining the S&P 500, replacing Discover Financial, which is being acquired. The change will be effective before the start of trading on May 19. It will be the first crypto company to join the broad market index.
Hetrtz reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and warned of cooling demand.
Electric air taxi company Archer Aviation reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
Rigetti Computing's sales in the first three months of the year fell short of estimates.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US stock futures fall as investors await key inflation report
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Business Insider
11 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Broadcom Stock (AVGO) Primed to Maintain Long-Term Uptrend as Indices Return to Mean
Broadcom (AVGO) presents a strong investment opportunity, driven by its strategic focus on value creation within the rapidly evolving advanced technology space. As a key enabler of AI, Broadcom goes beyond hardware—its high-margin ecosystem, powered by AI and enterprise software, adds significant long-term appeal. While the stock may appear expensive at first glance, its valuation is justified by the company's foundational role in AI infrastructure and the robust, secular growth trends it continues to ride. Confident Investing Starts Here: In terms of raw performance, AVGO stock has outperformed the market by a substantial margin over the past year. Further underpinning the bullish theme, broader U.S. stock indices such as the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 are all back at their historic highs, having shaken off the macroeconomic shock of a U.S.-China trade war. Given the solid fundamentals and strong outperformance, I think AVGO serves as a superb addition to any investor's portfolio; I'm stoutly bullish. Broadcom Is a Next Generation Technology Enabler Broadcom's latest quarterly results underscore the flawless execution of its strategy. The company reported impressive revenue of $15 billion, up 20% year-over-year. AI Semiconductor sales surged 46% to $4.4 billion, while Infrastructure Software revenue reached $6.6 billion, marking 25% growth. Free cash flow reached $6.4 billion, accounting for 43% of revenue and representing a 44% year-over-year increase. Guidance for fiscal Q3 2025 further strengthens the bullish outlook. Broadcom projects $15.8 billion in total revenue, reflecting a 21% year-over-year increase. AI Semiconductor sales are expected to rise 60% to $5.1 billion, and Infrastructure Software revenue is projected to grow 16% to $6.7 billion. These results and forward-looking projections reflect Broadcom's consistent value creation and operational discipline. Under CEO Hock Tan's leadership, the company has demonstrated mastery in driving growth, executing strategic mergers and acquisitions, and optimizing internal efficiencies—all with a clear focus on long-term shareholder value. Broadcom Is Constructing an AI Infrastructure Fortress Broadcom sits at the heart of the AI boom, strategically investing in custom silicon and high-performance networking, both of which are foundational to the long-term economics of AI infrastructure. Major hyperscalers are increasingly relying on Broadcom's custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to power their AI workloads, and this reliance is poised to grow. CEO Hock Tan projects the current 60% year-over-year growth in AI semiconductor revenue will extend into Fiscal 2026, driven by the multi-year expansion of AI infrastructure, the rising complexity of AI models, and continued investment across both training and inference. Beyond custom silicon, Broadcom is a significant force in AI networking through its Tomahawk and Jericho switch families—critical technologies for interconnecting large-scale AI clusters. The Tomahawk 6, for example, delivers up to 102.4 terabits per second of switching capacity, enabling the performance demands of next-gen AI systems. AI networking, which already accounts for approximately 40% of Broadcom's AI revenue, is expected to grow sharply, and a year-over-year increase exceeding 170% in this segment would not be surprising. Broadcom Also Has a Software Profit Engine Despite initial skepticism, Broadcom's acquisition and integration of VMware has been a masterful example of disciplined, long-term value creation. Broadcom's strategy for VMware to become a high-margin, recurring software business is beginning to take shape. Broadcom has made significant strides in converting VMware's customers to a subscription-based business model. For example, greater than 87% of VMware's top 10,000 customers have adopted the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) subscription, with the conversion expected to occur primarily over the next 12-18 months. This change has significantly improved Broadcom's infrastructure software operating margins, which increased from 60% to 76% in Fiscal Q2 2025. I expect further margin improvement as the company continues to roll off legacy contracts and solidify its subscription base. Financial Masterplanning at Broadcom Broadcom exemplifies disciplined financial management, with robust free cash flow and strong returns on deployed capital forming the backbone of its investment appeal. In Fiscal Q2 2025, the company delivered a record $6.41 billion in free cash flow—an impressive 43% of revenue—and this level of cash generation is expected to persist. Free cash flow remains the engine that drives Broadcom's ability to invest, deleverage, and return capital to shareholders. Following its earnings release, Broadcom reduced its gross principal debt from $69.4 billion to $67.8 billion, reaffirming its commitment to maintaining a 2x debt-to-EBITDA ratio. Management has been clear: cash not allocated to dividends will be prioritized for debt reduction. At the same time, Broadcom continues to return capital to shareholders on a large scale. In Q2 alone, the company paid out $2.8 billion in dividends and repurchased $4.2 billion in stock. In April, the Board authorized a new $10 billion share repurchase program, which will run through the end of 2025, signaling strong internal confidence in the company's long-term prospects. As free cash flow accelerates and debt is further reduced, this disciplined approach could create a compounding effect on earnings per share. Should the stock experience a pullback to technical support levels, I believe it could present an attractive entry point toward achieving a 30% annual return target. Is Broadcom a Buy, Sell, or Hold? Broadcom has a consensus Strong Buy rating on Wall Street based on 27 Buys, two Holds, and zero Sells. The average stock price target for AVGO is $289.60, indicating a potential return of 18% over the next 12 months. I'm Staying Bullish on Broadcom In my view, the convergence of accelerating AI-driven revenue, expanding high-margin software contributions from VMware, and Broadcom's disciplined capital allocation creates a particularly compelling investment case. These factors form the core of my thesis for achieving an annual return in the 30% range over the coming years. While the company continues to actively pursue strategic acquisitions, it is also steadily building long-term value through foundational infrastructure and prudent financial stewardship. With strong momentum, exceptional leadership, and a clear growth runway, Broadcom stands out as a high-quality opportunity in a transformative sector.


Business Insider
29 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Biogen (BIIB) Receives a Buy from TD Cowen
TD Cowen analyst Phil Nadeau maintained a Buy rating on Biogen (BIIB – Research Report) today and set a price target of $175.00. The company's shares closed today at $133.06. Confident Investing Starts Here: Nadeau covers the Healthcare sector, focusing on stocks such as Biogen, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, and Kura Oncology. According to TipRanks, Nadeau has an average return of 2.6% and a 42.41% success rate on recommended stocks. In addition to TD Cowen, Biogen also received a Buy from William Blair's Myles Minter in a report issued today. However, on the same day, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a Hold rating on Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB). BIIB market cap is currently $19.85B and has a P/E ratio of 13.38. Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 38 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is positive on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders buying their shares of BIIB in relation to earlier this year. Last month, Caroline Dorsa, a Director at BIIB bought 1,235.00 shares for a total of $151,559.20.


Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Palantir Just Popped 40%, But Is Snowflake Still the Quiet Killer in AI?
Palantir (PLTR) ripped higher in May, up 40.3% in a month when the Nasdaq basically slept. The spark? A fresh partnership with Databricks (yes, the same Databricks Nvidia just backed), plus a string of government wins across immigration, defense, and even the IRS. That's vintage Palantir: big, bold, and all-in on public sector scale. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter And the market loved it. This is Palantir at its most potent—throwing elbows in the AI analytics ring and still landing contracts with agencies that don't mess around. The company's vision of 'AI with consequences' is resonating. That's translating into real revenue and serious stock action. Snowflake Stays Cool, But Don't Mistake It For Passive While Palantir was printing headlines, Snowflake (SNOW) barely budged. But that doesn't mean nothing's happening. Snowflake is the definition of stealth strength. It's the clean, enterprise-friendly data infrastructure play—plugged deep into AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. And here's the twist: analysts say Snowflake's commercial reach may actually outpace Palantir's total addressable market over the long haul. Snowflake lives in the subscription SaaS world. Palantir lives on custom, high-touch deployments. That's the clash: scalability vs. depth. Two AI Strategies. One Collision Course. Palantir is going hyper-targeted: government, defense, complex systems, all infused with AI. Snowflake is building universal tools for every corporate data team on Earth. Different lanes, same race. If the AI wave stays high and wide, Snowflake's architecture might have more runway. But if regulation and geopolitical tension put data and defense front and center? That's Palantir's jungle. The Verdict Comes Down to Lightning vs. Ice Palantir's got momentum, headlines, and that sweet Databricks nod. But Snowflake's commercial footprint is enormous—and quietly expanding. One's loud, the other's lethal. Investors need to ask: do you want the stock that can 2x on a single AI headline? Or the one that could 10x silently over five years because it's baked into every Fortune 500 data stack? Right now, the market's hyped on Palantir. But the AI war is just warming up. And Snowflake isn't showing its hand yet. What Do Analysts Think Is the Better Buy: Palantir or Snowflake? Palantir is going hyper-targeted: government, defense, complex systems, all infused with AI. Snowflake is building universal tools for every corporate data team on Earth. Different lanes, same race. Investors can compare Palantir and Snowflake using the TipRanks Stock Comparison Tool. Snowflake (SNOW) currently trades at $208.24. Analysts project a robust upside for the data cloud giant. Its average price target hits $226.74, signaling an 8.88% potential climb. The consensus stands firm at a 'Strong Buy'. Snowflake also boasts a Smart Score of 5. Its market capitalization reaches $69.48 billion, with a P/E ratio of -50.12. Palantir (PLTR) charts a different course. Trading at $132.81, analysts foresee a downturn for the AI analytics firm. Its average price target hovers at $101.06, indicating a 23.91% potential downside. The consensus leans towards a 'Hold' rating. Palantir holds a Smart Score of 4. The company commands a significantly larger market capitalization at $313.42 billion, with a P/E ratio of 576.68. This direct comparison highlights Wall Street's current preferences. Snowflake draws strong buy signals and projected upside. Palantir, despite recent surges, faces a 'Hold' consensus and forecasted decline. The market clearly evaluates these AI titans on distinct metrics.