SpaceX Q3 Profit Lifts US Futures as Oil Prices Slip

US equity futures edged higher in pre-bell trading Wednesday as investors weighed the latest corporate earnings, with SpaceX (SPCX) reporting a swing to a third-quarter profit. The company said revenue rose, driven by sharp gains in its artificial intelligence and connectivity divisions. SpaceX shares climbed 9% in premarket activity.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.3% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.7% higher. Traders also assessed results from Philip Morris International (PM) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), both of which reported higher third-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue. Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) are scheduled to report their third-quarter earnings after the market closes. Analysts polled by FactSet expect Meta to post earnings of $6.54 per share on revenue of $63.34 billion, while Tesla is expected to report adjusted earnings of $0.45 per share on revenue of $28.06 billion.

In energy markets, front-month North Sea Brent crude fell 0.2% to $108.54 per barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 0.1% to $97.76 per barrel. Reuters reported that Russia is set to send its first vessel with diesel to the US on Thursday, carrying 40,000 metric tons of fuel, following a deal with President Trump. A separate Reuters report cited the Department of Energy as stating the Trump administration is offering to loan up to 315,000 barrels of heating oil from the 1-million-barrel US emergency heating oil reserve.

Global markets showed mixed results, with Japan's Nikkei closing 0.9% higher while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.9% lower and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.6% lower. In Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 was up 0.1%, and Germany's DAX index was 0.9% higher in the early afternoon session.

Among individual equities, Philip Morris and Thermo Fisher Scientific shares fell 2.8% and 2.6%, respectively, after their earnings reports. Netflix (NFLX) dropped 6.8% after issuing fourth-quarter guidance that fell short of analysts' consensus. AT&T (T) shares declined 5% despite posting higher third-quarter adjusted earnings and operating revenue.

Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose 1.8% after the company announced plans to expand global manufacturing capacity through new agreements with supply chain partners. AMD (AMD) shares gained 1.9% after Vultr announced a plan to broaden its partnership with AMD by installing the Instinct MI355X GPU in a new 20-megawatt AI supercluster located in Chennai, India. Super Micro Computer (SMCI) climbed over 12% after reporting preliminary first-quarter fiscal revenue and margin results above expectations late Tuesday.