The three major indexes on Wall Street opened higher. It appears optimism is being priced in that Nvidia's earnings grew from a year earlier.
As of 10:17 a.m. on the 25th (local time) on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 78.48 points, or 0.16%, at 49,252.98. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 was up 30.90 points, or 0.45%, at 6,920.97, and the Nasdaq composite was up 214.50 points, or 0.94%, at 23,078.19.
Nvidia is set to report results after the close. The market expects Nvidia's adjusted earnings per share (EPS) at $1.53, up 72% from a year earlier.
Among revenue lines, data center sales are drawing particular attention. The estimate for data center revenue is $61.0 billion, up 70% from a year earlier. That is about 17 times the $3.6 billion in data center revenue Nvidia posted in the fourth quarter of 2023, when OpenAI released ChatGPT.
The gross margin estimate is 75%. It was 73% in the same period last year. If gross margin falls short of expectations, concerns about intensifying competition could grow.
As hyperscalers publicly seek to diversify AI chip supply, Nvidia rival AMD on the previous day signed a mega-deal worth up to $60.0 billion with Meta Platforms.
Software also showed strength. Anthropic launched new connectors and plug-ins for Cloud Co-Work, allowing corporations to consolidation their existing apps and AI tools.
Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, global head of equity investments at UBS Global Wealth Management, said, "Whether this market confidence can persist over the next few days depends on Nvidia's results," adding, "In recent weeks hyperscalers said they increased capital expenditures, so the market expects Nvidia's revenue to top estimates."
By sector, technology and communications were strong, while energy and consumer staples were weak.
Oracle rose more than 3% after Oppenheimer raised its investment rating to outperform and set a price target of $185.
Lowe's Companies, Inc. fell more than 4% even though fourth-quarter results beat expectations, as its annual guidance missed. Lowe's Companies, Inc. guided for adjusted EPS of $12.25 to $12.75 this year, well below the market consensus of $12.95.
IBM rose more than 3% after UBS upgraded its rating to neutral from sell. UBS said IBM's competitive risk is largely reflected in the share price and the stock is trading at a 7% free cash flow yield.
European stocks rose across the board.
The Euro Stoxx 50 was up 0.71% from the previous session at 6,160.01 in transaction. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 rose 0.79% and 0.28%, respectively, and Germany's DAX was up 0.73% from the previous session.
International oil prices weakened. At the same time, front-month West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April 2026 delivery was down 0.23% from the previous session at $65.48 per barrel.