Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Edge Lower Despite AI Momentum As Iran Risks Linger: Why HPE, MRVL, INTC, TSLA, SPCE, ASTS Are In Focus

• Elevated oil prices and uncertainty surrounding Iran negotiations kept broader market sentiment cautious. 
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Marvell Technology led premarket gains as AI spending continues to drive investor optimism. 
• Investors will be watching for the release of the JOLTS job openings report today. 

U.S. stock futures traded marginally lower early Tuesday after June began at record highs, with artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor stocks driving gains. However, geopolitical uncertainty continues to weigh on investor sentiment as reports suggested that Iran could slow negotiations amid tensions involving Israel and Lebanon. 

However, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday that talks with Iran are continuing "at a rapid pace." Crude oil prices remain elevated, with WTI crude holding above $92/barrel, while copper prices have surged to two-week highs.

As of 4:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday: Dow futures fell 0.2%, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures declined 0.1%, and Russell 2000 futures were flat with a positive bias.

Retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, remained in ‘bullish’ territory, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has remained ‘neutral’.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Hewlett-Packard (HPE) stock soared 28% in early premarket trade after delivering its largest quarterly earnings beat since 2018, and shared a raised full-year guidance, thanks to booming AI demand. 

Intel (INTC) fell 2% in early premarket despite unveiling new AI technologies and rack-scale computing solutions at Computex. 

Marvell Technology (MRVL): Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang described the company as "the next trillion-dollar company" during Computex today. MRVL stock rose over 20% in early premarket trade.

Alphabet (GOOGL): Google's parent company announced plans to raise approximately $80 billion to fund an aggressive expansion of its AI computing and data center footprint. This included a $10 billion investment from Berkshire Hathaway.

Nvidia (NVDA): Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management bought 300K shares of Nvidia. It also added shares of newly listed Cerebras Systems to its kitty, while selling some shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). 

Tesla (TSLA) shares remain on the retail radar amid renewed concerns about the valuation of its upcoming SpaceX IPO. Meanwhile, it is also facing competition in humanoid robotics after OpenAI formally launched a robotics division, an area many investors view as a long-term growth opportunity for Elon Musk's company.

Virgin Galactic  Holdings (SPCE) remains on the retail radar ahead of SpaceX's blockbuster IPO. Analytics firm S3 Partners estimates SPCE's short exposure at $118.3 million, which is more than the combined active and passive institutional long positions. 

Space stocks remain in the spotlight, with recovery seen in Rocket Lab (RKLB), AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) and Intuitive Machines (LUNR) after Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp clarified that the company's New Glenn rocket remains on track to return to flight before year-end despite last week's launchpad explosion. This helped ease investor concerns after earlier reports suggested repairs could potentially extend toward 2028. 

Credo Technology Group (CRDO): Stock slipped 5% in early premarket despite beating fourth-quarter earnings expectations, though analysts at Jefferies and Roth Capital raised their price targets to $270 and $300.

In other news, Citron Research founder and GameStop’s most famous short seller, Andrew Left, was found guilty by a federal jury on 13 counts of securities fraud, tied to trading activity involving several high-profile stocks, including Nvidia, Tesla, Meta, Palantir, Roku, and American Airlines. 

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Bitcoin (BTC), Aventus Network (AVT), Meta Platforms (META), and Broadcom Inc (AVGO). 

Other Catalysts To Watch

On the economic front, investors are tracking the release of JOLTs Job Openings data at 2:00 pm ET today.

On earnings radar, watch out for quarterly reports from Dollar General Corp (DG), UP Fintech Holding (TIGR), and Signet Jewelers (SIG) before the bell today. Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW), Ulta Beauty Inc (ULTA), GitLab (GTLB), Jiayin Group Inc. (JFIN) and Five Below Inc (FIVE), among others, report after market close.  

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