Preview of US Stock Market | The three major stock index futures all fell, while Broadcom Inc. (AVGO.US) rose after its performance report.

Pre-Market Market Trends 1. In the pre-market of March 5th (Thursday), the futures of the three major U.S. stock indexes all fell. As of the time of writing, the Nasdaq futures fell by 0.25%, the S&P 500 index futures fell by 0.11%, and the Dow futures fell by 0.14%. 2. As of the time of writing, the Germany DAX index fell by 0.01%, the UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.13%, the France CAC40 index rose by 0.05%, and the European Stoxx 50 index rose by 0.08%. 3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil rose by 2.92% to $76.84 per barrel. Brent crude oil rose by 2.40% to $83.35 per barrel. Market News Another bull in Wall Street's camp! BTIG is confident that the market bottom has been confirmed and calls for offensive action. BTIG has joined the bullish camp, becoming the latest institution to send an optimistic signal to American stock market investors. BTIG's Chief Market Strategist Jonathan Krinsky said: "The market bottom has been confirmed, and now it's time to go on the offensive." Krinsky believes that with the S&P 500 index regaining key support levels, multiple sectors have reached a bottom. "We believe that the aviation, consumer, banking, cryptocurrency, software, and Chinese stock sectors have bottomed out, while the energy and essential consumer goods sectors are showing signs of a temporary peak." Is the Iran GEO Group Inc bottoming out? Top strategist turns bullish, signals March stock market rally with 6 major bullish signs. Scott Rubner, a well-known strategist on Wall Street and at Castle Securities, believes that the worst impact of the conflict on the stock market may have passed temporarily. He said: "We have withdrawn our tactical bearish view and see room for a rebound in the stock market before mid-March." Rubner highlighted six bullish signals for the stock market, including options expiring on "triple witching day," retail investors continuing to buy on dips, tax refund funds, high skewness, rising cross-asset volatility, and seasonality becoming more favorable. Seeking wealth and risk in the stock market? Retail investors ignore everything and remain firm in "buying the dip." Despite concerns about economic turbulence caused by AI panic and the conflict between the US and Iran leading to stock market volatility in recent weeks, retail investors, who play an increasingly critical role on Wall Street, remain the most loyal buyers. According to a report by Castle Securities, February was one of the strongest months for retail investor buying since the meme-stock frenzy in 2021, ranking as the fifth largest month on record. This Monday, the first trading day after the conflict erupted, major stock indexes initially fell, but J.P. Morgan analysts pointed out that retail investors poured $2.2 billion into stocks and ETFs. Investors flocking to the most hardcore safe haven asset - money market funds! U.S. money market fund assets soar to a record $8.27 trillion. As the military conflict between the US/Israel and Iran triggers a global wave of safe-haven demand, investors are embracing the most hardcore, direct, and low-risk cash type of safe haven - money market funds, with total assets of U.S. money market funds soaring to a record $8.271 trillion. According to the latest data from Crane Data LLC, a total of $49 billion flowed into money market funds as of the week ending March 3rd. Of that amount, around $18.5 billion flowed in on Tuesday alone, as the negative narrative resulting from the larger-scale airstrikes launched by the US and Israel against Iran continued to ferment in financial markets. The inflow of money market funds in the past week has brought cumulative inflows for the year to over $162 billion. Hormuz "chokehold" on aluminum supply, Citigroup raises aluminum price target to $3600. Citigroup recently raised its price target for three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange (LME) from $3,400 per ton to $3,600 per ton, and stated that in a bull market scenario, aluminum prices could even soar to $4,000 per ton. This move is primarily due to supply disruptions and force majeure declarations following the escalation of the Iran situation. Citigroup pointed out in its report: "Two producers in the Gulf region have encountered force majeure, indicating that the market has shifted from facing risks to actual supply disruptions." Citigroup believes that due to shipping and insurance-related issues, the impact of the conflict may persist for a long time. Even if some transportation resumes, the normalization of containerized metal and value-added products may be much slower than tanker transport. The agency also warned that there may be instability in related facilities or electrolytic cell production lines, which could lead to delays in restarting production for several months. Individual Stock News The wave of speculation is sweeping the globe, with Broadcom Inc.'s $100 billion blueprint penetrating NVIDIA Corporation's territory. Broadcom Inc.'s latest performance data and outlook for the next quarter have exceeded Wall Street analysts' expectations, especially its outlook for $100 billion in revenue from AI chips. The financial report shows that in the first fiscal quarter ending February 1st, Broadcom Inc.'s revenue increased by 29% year-on-year to $19.3 billion, surpassing market expectations of $19.2 billion; adjusted earnings per share were $2.05, higher than the market's expectation of $2.03. AI-related revenue for the quarter doubled to $8.4 billion, far exceeding the company's previous expectations. Q1 semiconductor solution revenue, including AI ASIC and RF chips for smartphones, surged to $12.515 billion, a year-on-year increase of 52%. In addition, the company expects revenue of around $22 billion in the second fiscal quarter ending May 3, implying a year-on-year growth of about 47%, significantly higher than the market's expectation of around $20.5 billion. The most significant news is that Broadcom Inc.'s CEO stated that revenue related to "AI chips" will surpass $100 billion next year. As of the time of writing, Broadcom Inc. was up over 7% in pre-market trading on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. Class C establishes three major future engines: quantum computing, Siasun Robot& Automation, and AI-driven pharmaceuticals. Alphabet Inc. Class C recently unveiled its next stage strategic blueprint, establishing quantum computing, Siasun Robot& Automation technology, and AI-driven drug discovery as the core engines driving the group's long-term growth. The deep-seated motive for this strategic transformation lies in the comprehensive upgrade of the global generative AI competition - to break through the growth ceiling of search advertising business, Alphabet Inc. Class C is accelerating its advance to the forefront of commercialization of cutting-edge technologies through intensive capital investment. The company plans to transform "forward-looking projects" in the lab into pillar industries with trillion-dollar market potential, with research and development intensity expected to reach a historical high. Even with full production capacity, demand for server chips remains strong! Intel Corporation CFO: Server chip demand is still "very strong," supply constraints to persist throughout the year. Intel Corporation's Chief Financial Officer Dave Zinsner said that the demand for high-margin server processors from the company is still strong and expects this trend to continue into next year. Zinsner pointed out that due to limited factory capacity and supply shortages in the entire semiconductor industry, Intel Corporation is struggling to meet the growing demand for orders. Zinsner stated that after sales growth of over 20% last year, the server market "is expected to achieve a significant growth again this year." Zinsner said that supply constraints are expected to ease but will persist through the end of this year. He noted that many of Intel Corporation's factories are currently operating at over 100% capacity. OpenAI and ad tech company The Trade Desk (TTD.US) start early talks on advertising business. According to three sources familiar with the matter, OpenAI has started early talks with The Trade Desk on collaboration to help developers of ChatGPT conduct advertising sales. This indicates that OpenAI, which recently launched advertising business for ChatGPT in early February, is initially planning to use external partners to assist in selling ads and rapidly expanding its business. The Trade Desk provides advertisers with a large-scale automated advertising platform while also possessing advertising targeting and performance measurement technologies. As of the time of writing, The Trade Desk was up over 20% in pre-market trading on Thursday. Kroger Co. (KR.US) reports mixed Q4 earnings, cautious guidance for 2026 fiscal year. The financial report shows that Kroger Co.'s Q4 sales were $34.725 billion, below the market's expected $35.064 billion; same-store sales growth excluding fuel was 2.4%, below the market's expected 2.5%; adjusted earnings per share were $1.28, better than the market's expected $1.20. Looking ahead, Kroger Co. expects full-year same-store sales growth, excluding fuel, to be between 1.0% and 2.0% for the 2026 fiscal year; full-year earnings are expected to be $5.10 to $5.30 per share (midpoint $5.20), consistent with the market's consensus expectation of $5.20. Kroger Co. also expects full-year capital expenditures to be between $3.8 billion and $4 billion. STMicroelectronics NV ADR RegS (STM.US) CEO hints: Data center-related revenue will exceed $1 billion next year. STMicroelectronics NV ADR RegS CEO Jean-Marc Chery expects the company's revenue related to data centers to "far exceed" $1 billion next year. The chipmaker previously stated in January that it expects to achieve $1 billion in revenue related to data centers by 2030. Chery said during a conference at Morgan Stanley on Wednesday: "Thanks to the initial effects of the AWS contract, and driven by the accelerating demand at Optical Cable Corporation, I can say with certainty that this year, revenue related to data centers will easily surpass $1 billion - reaching around $1.5 billion. And by next year, this revenue will far exceed $1 billion." Boosted by this news, STMicroelectronics NV ADR RegS was up over 2% in pre-market trading on Thursday. JD.com, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (JD.US) releases annual results, with net profit attributable to shareholders of $19.6 billion and a year-end dividend of $0.5 per share. In the full year of 2025, JD.com, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A achieved revenue of RMB 1,309.1 billion, up 13% from the full year of 2024; operating profit was $2.8 billion; net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders was $19.6 billion; diluted earnings per American depositary share were $12.90; planned cash dividends were $0.5 per ordinary share, or $1.0 per American depositary share. In the fourth quarter of 2025, JD.com, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A achieved revenue of RMB 352.3 billion, an increase of 1.5% from the fourth quarter of 2024; operating losses were $5.849 billion; net losses attributable to ordinary shareholders were $2.7 billion; diluted losses per American depositary share were $2.07. Bilibili, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class Z (BILI.US) releases annual results, with adjusted net profit of RMB 2.59 billion, turning from a loss to a profit year-on-year. Bilibili, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class Z achieved a total revenue of RMB 30.35 billion in the full year of 2025, up 13% year-on-year; net profit was $11.9 billion, turning from a loss of $1.36 billion in the previous year; adjusted net profit was $25.9 billion, compared to an adjusted net loss of $3.9 million in the previous year; basic earnings per share were RMB 2.85. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the group achieved total revenue of RMB 8.32 billion, an increase of 8% from the fourth quarter of 2024; net profit was $5.14 billion, a 478% increase year-on-year; adjusted net profit was $8.78 billion, a 94% increase year-on-year. At the time of writing, Bilibili, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class Z was up nearly 3% in pre-market trading on Thursday. HUTCHMED (HCM.US) releases annual results, with a net profit attributable to shareholders of $457 million, a year-on-year increase of 1,111.03%. HUTCHMED released its full-year 2025 performance, with total revenue of $549 million, a year-on-year decrease of 12.96%; net profit attributable to shareholders was $457 million, a year-on-year increase of 1,111.03%; earnings per basic share were $0.53. Important Economic Data and Event Previews 8:30 PM Beijing time - US Challenger Job-Cut Announcements for February 9:30 PM Beijing time - Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending February 28 in the US 2:15 AM Beijing time the next day - Speech by Fed Governor Bowman Earnings Preview Friday Morning: Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL.US), Costco (COST.US)