Futures Slide as Alphabet Drops 3% on $205B AI Capex — SkimNews
SkimNews Take
Rising oil prices quietly compound AI capex concerns: energy-intensive data centers face higher input costs even as hyperscalers commit to historic spending, making Alphabet's earnings a stress test for both narratives simultaneously.
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- U.S. equity futures slipped Wednesday evening with Dow futures down 69 points (0.1%), S&P 500 futures off 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures lower by 0.3%.
- Alphabet shares slid 3% in extended trading after the Google parent lifted its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to as high as $205 billion, citing strong AI demand, against growing investor caution over hyperscaler AI spending.
- Oil prices climbed Wednesday after the U.S. launched another round of strikes against Iran and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tehran was "not serious about talks" — with a sustained rise seen as a risk to keeping inflation elevated and complicating the Federal Reserve's rate path.
- Fundstrat strategist Hardika Singh said investors' attention "has gravitated toward the war again," with those who previously thought oil had peaked now "redoing the inflation math all over again."
- Shutterstock dropped 10% post-market after suspending its quarterly dividend, with former CEO Paul Hennessy stepping down effective July 13 — two weeks after Getty Images walked away from a deal to buy the company.
- Medpace Holdings surged about 19% after Q2 results topped Wall Street consensus, while Rollins fell about 10% after second-quarter results missed expectations.
- Thursday's earnings slate includes Dow, American Airlines, T-Mobile, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern before the bell and Intel after the close, with weekly jobless claims due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Why it matters: Alphabet's $205 billion capex hike — met with a 3% after-hours stock drop — signals investor tolerance for hyperscaler AI spending without immediate payoff is thinning fast. Combined with oil spiking on renewed U.S. strikes on Iran and investors 'redoing the inflation math,' the Federal Reserve's rate path just got more complicated heading into Thursday's jobless claims print.
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