Wall Street Holds Its Breath Before Nvidia Q2 Earnings as Zoom Tumbles on Weak Guidance

U.S. stock futures were subdued on August 26, 2026, with the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq all edging lower as investors braced for Nvidia's second-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings report due after the closing bell, the most closely watched quarterly print on Wall Street since the AI trade took hold. Nvidia shares gained roughly 2% in premarket trading, snapping a seven-day losing streak, while semiconductor peers AMD, Broadcom, and Intel all moved with heightened volatility in sympathy. Micron Technology and Applied Materials edged higher in early trading as investors attempted a bounce following recent sector pullbacks.

Zoom Video Communications was the session's sharpest pre-market decliner, plunging roughly 7% after its Q3 revenue guidance of $1.275 billion to $1.28 billion disappointed analysts, even as the company beat second-quarter expectations and raised its full-year outlook. Salesforce slid about 2% ahead of its own after-hours results, and HP Inc slipped marginally ahead of its upcoming quarterly report. Inflation data also kept sentiment cautious alongside the Nvidia print, which traders viewed as the definitive test of whether the resurgent AI trade could sustain its momentum heading into the fall.