Tech Stocks Power Market Higher Ahead of Key AI Earnings
Stocks climbed Wednesday as investors positioned for closely watched earnings from artificial-intelligence bellwethers, pushing major indexes to fresh highs at the closing bell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 307.77 points, or 0.63%, to 49,482.3. The S&P 500 gained 56.07 points, or 0.81%, to 6,946.14. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 288.40 points, or 1.26%, to 23,152.1.
Technology shares led the advance as investors braced for quarterly reports from NvidiaNVDA--, SnowflakeSNOW-- and SalesforceCRM--, with expectations running high that AI-driven demand will continue to underpin software and semiconductor growth.
For Nvidia, Wall Street is forecasting fourth-quarter earnings of $1.54 a share on $66.1 billion in revenue. Data-center revenue is expected to rise 15% year over year to $60.1 billion. Morgan Stanley predicts a $2 billion revenue beat over guidance but has emphasized that GAAP gross margins near 74.8% will be critical to sustaining bullish sentiment.
Investors watching Snowflake have expectations for 27% product revenue growth and a 125% net revenue retention rate. Remaining performance obligations are projected at $7.88 billion. Analysts are also focused on the company’s OpenAI partnership and how new CFO Brian Robins frames fiscal 2027 guidance.
Salesforce’s upcoming report is expected to test whether AI tools can meaningfully accelerate enterprise-software growth. Investors are watching current remaining performance obligation growth, which rose 11% year over year in the third quarter, and Agentforce annual recurring revenue of $540 million, up 330% from a year earlier.
Beyond corporate earnings, fresh consumer data from the Bank of America Institute suggested tax refunds could provide a modest tailwind to household balance sheets. According to BofA Global Research’s latest payment priority survey conducted with SurveyMonkey, 36% of respondents plan to use their refund to pay down debt, while roughly 20% expect to spend it on large purchases or everyday expenses. About 32% do not expect to receive a refund.
BofA Global Research estimates refunds will be about 26% higher in 2026 compared with last year, potentially supporting deposits and spending in the coming months as consumers navigate affordability pressures and elevated credit-card balances.
Together, strong positioning ahead of AI earnings and signs of consumer liquidity support helped fuel Wednesday’s broad-based rally.
Adam Shapiro is a three-time Emmy Award–winning content creator, former network news correspondent, and founder of the multimedia production company TALKENOMICS. At AInvest, he created and launched Capital & Power, a video podcast series designed to drive engagement and establish thought leadership, while also producing original live streams, financial articles, and investor-focused video content. Previously, as a correspondent at FOX Business, Shapiro established the network’s Washington, D.C. bureau, reported from the White House, Capitol Hill, and the Federal Reserve, and secured exclusive bipartisan interviews with influential leaders. His reporting helped solidify FOX Business as the most-watched business channel on television. At the same time, his original Talkenomics series drew tens of thousands of viewers per episode through insightful conversations with policymakers, economists, and thought leaders. At Yahoo Finance, he played a critical leadership role in expanding digital programming to eight hours of live, bell-to-bell financial news coverage, dramatically increasing traffic from 68M to 104M unique monthly visitors and growing ad revenue from zero to over $50 million annually. Yahoo Finance continues to benefit from the credibility of Shapiro’s exclusive interviews with former President Donald Trump and numerous Fortune 500 CEOs.
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