NEW YORK, Jan 28, 2026, 06:20 EST — Premarket.
- Nvidia led gains among chip stocks in premarket trading as U.S. index futures edged higher.
- Microsoft and Meta are set to report after the bell, with investors zeroing in on AI investments and profit margins.
- The Federal Reserve’s rate decision on Wednesday has the potential to reshape risk appetite.
AI stocks edged up in premarket trading Wednesday, with chipmakers leading the charge. Nvidia climbed 1.7%, while Intel surged 6.6%. Both Micron and Microchip Technology also posted gains exceeding 5%. Wall Street braces for a packed day featuring Big Tech earnings and a Federal Reserve announcement. 1
The moves set the stage for a crucial check on the “AI trade” powering megacap tech and, by extension, the wider market. Microsoft and Meta are due to report after the bell, with investors watching closely for updates on capital expenditure and whether demand remains strong.
The key issue is clear: costs are soaring, and patience is running out. Big Tech is set to boost AI spending by roughly 30%, pushing total outlays past $500 billion this year. Alphabet’s recent strong performance has intensified the competition. “Alphabet has the upper hand in the AI race… tough to penetrate,” said David Wagner, head of equities at Aptus Capital Advisors. 2
Microsoft edged up roughly 0.2% ahead of the open, while Meta slipped about 0.4%, based on early signals. Investors are on alert for signs of cloud growth easing or a shift toward more cautious data-center investment with tighter returns.
Overnight, ASML’s strong fourth-quarter bookings and a raised sales forecast for 2026 caught attention, despite announcing 1,700 job cuts. Investors took the mixed signals as a sign that AI-driven demand remains robust even as the chip equipment maker tightens its belt. 3
SK Hynix reported a record quarterly operating profit in Asia, driven by strong demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component in AI servers and accelerators. This surge helped fuel the broader chip rally across Europe and the U.S. 4
Microsoft has taken a step toward reining in its AI expenses. On Monday, the company introduced the Maia 200 inference chip—designed specifically for the inference stage, where an AI model delivers answers to users. Microsoft claims this new chip will help cut the costs involved in token generation. 5
Some investors have zeroed in on smaller AI infrastructure names. CoreWeave grabbed attention after Nvidia revealed a $2 billion investment in the data-center company at $87.20 a share, deepening the chipmaker’s ties to a rapidly expanding GPU capacity customer. 6
That said, the risk runs both ways. A Fed that sounds less dovish, tepid forecasts on AI-fueled growth, or fresh pledges of “more spending, later payback” might weigh on the highest-multiple stocks first—especially if execs highlight rising costs outpacing revenue gains.
Coming up next: the Fed’s policy decision and Chair Jerome Powell’s comments later Wednesday, then Microsoft and Meta earnings after the bell. Alphabet and Amazon are set to report next week, keeping AI spending and cloud growth under the microscope into early February.
