Investing.com – U.S. stock futures fell in after-hours trading on Wednesday, with shares of major chip makers falling after memory chip maker Micron offered a somewhat lackluster earnings outlook.
While Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday, trading was choppy as anticipation of key U.S. inflation data and the upcoming presidential debate kept investors on the sidelines.
fell 0.3% to 5,526.50 and was down 0.5% at 19,920.0 by 7:15 pm ET (2315 GMT). fell by 0.2% to 39,456.0 points.
Micron falls, other chipmakers follow mixed earnings
Shares of Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:) fell nearly 8% in the aftermarket after the memory chip maker’s current quarter guidance was slightly disappointing. The chipmaker forecast current-quarter revenue of $7.6 billion, in line with estimates.
Micron’s quarterly earnings also beat market expectations due to strong demand from AI, while the chipmaker forecast strong profits for the current quarter.
But the revenue forecast disappointed investors who had expected more, especially as Micron’s value has more than doubled in the past year on the back of the artificial intelligence frenzy. The stock also posted strong earnings growth.
Shares of other chipmakers followed Micron’s lead into declines, with shares of market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) falling nearly 2%. Chip developers Hand Holdings (NASDAQ:) and Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:) each lost 1%.
Wall Street expects volatile session ahead of new economic signals
Wall Street indexes closed marginally higher on Wednesday, boosted by Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:) after it announced a major foray into generative artificial intelligence. The company also crossed the $2 trillion mark.
However, overall trading was volatile as the summer holidays led to lower trading volumes.
The index rose 0.2% to 5,477.90 points and the index rose 0.5% to 17,802.66 points. It lags, rising slightly to 39,127.80 points.
Investors remained on the sidelines awaiting new economic signals this week, mostly from data that is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. The data will be released on Friday and will likely impact the interest rate outlook.
Markets were also on edge ahead of the year’s first presidential debate between Democratic and Republican front-runners Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The debate will take place on Thursday.