Futures Edge Up With AI Still in Focus Ahead of the Open

27 May 2026

New York, May 27, 2026, 06:01 EDT

Stock index futures pushed higher early Wednesday, driven by continued AI enthusiasm and gains in chip names ahead of the open. At 04:42 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis had added 195 points, or 0.39%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 21 points, or 0.28%. Nasdaq 100 e-minis rose 134 points, or 0.45%. The moves followed fresh record closes for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Tuesday.

Futures are agreements showing possible index levels ahead of the main stock session. The NYSE’s main hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Its 2026 holiday lineup puts Memorial Day on Monday, May 25. Wednesday is a regular trading day, according to the New York Stock Exchange.

The market is now looking at the rally less like a short squeeze, more like an earnings move. Goldman Sachs pushed its 2026 S&P 500 year-end target up to 8,000 from 7,600, a 6.4% jump from the last close at 7,519.12, and also hiked its EPS view to $340 for 2026 and $385 for 2027.

Micron kept leading. UBS lifted its price target on Micron to $1,625 from $535, citing stronger AI demand and supply agreements. UBS is the most bullish of the 46 firms tracking the stock.

UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri said he doesn’t see “any reason why MU should trade a whole lot differently than NVDA” on a price-to-earnings basis. Mizuho’s Vijay Rakesh called memory “the AI backbone” and said demand is running ahead of supply into 2026-27. Investing.com

Micron’s rally is about “memory chips are up significantly in price” and those prices are likely to hold for years, Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager for equities at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, said. Reuters

Zscaler slid in premarket after its fourth-quarter revenue outlook missed estimates. That put pressure on software and cybersecurity stocks again as names like Palo Alto Networks keep pushing for bigger share. Zscaler is a player in SASE, or Secure Access Service Edge, which puts networking and security into one cloud platform.

Zscaler CFO Kevin Rubin called out “record profitability” for the third quarter, adding that the focus is on “driving profitable growth.” Shares still slipped in early trading after guidance came in light on revenue. Zscaler, Inc.

Oil sent stocks higher again. Brent crude lost $3.11, settling at $96.47 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate slid $3.64 to $90.25, as traders balanced U.S.-Iran peace talks with new violence. PVM analyst Tamas Varga said there was “palpable progress towards ending the crisis.” Reuters

Stocks moved up across regions outside Wall Street, with Europe up 0.3%. Asian shares climbed. Japan and South Korea both hit all-time highs. AI hopes pushed these moves, according to Reuters, despite concerns over the U.S.-Iran truce.

The run isn’t guaranteed. The April Personal Income and Outlays report on Thursday will include the personal consumption expenditures price index, a key gauge for inflation, due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT on May 28. If inflation comes in hot, the rally could face a test. Any bounce in oil, a stronger-than-expected inflation number, or another move up in bond yields could squeeze expensive tech stocks.

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Khadija Saeed is a financial markets reporter at TS2.tech. Her coverage ranges from stocks and technology to emerging industries and developments across global markets. She studied economics and finance at the London School of Economics and worked in market research before becoming a financial journalist. Follow Khadija Saeed on Google News.

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