S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Futures Mixed As CPI Countdown Begins: Why INTC, SLS, SPCX, RKLB, ASTS, RIOT, FRMI Stocks Are In Focus

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits has declined to ‘neutral’ on SPY and ‘extremely bearish’ on QQQ.

• Geopolitical uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz keeps oil and inflation risks in focus. 
• Wall Street takes a breather ahead of key inflation data later this week.
• Tehran insists shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will not normalize until U.S. sanctions and asset freezes are lifted, even as President Donald Trump hardened his stance on Iran.

U.S. stock futures were mixed early Tuesday as investors gear up for a crucial inflation reading due tomorrow and as uncertainty over the geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz continued to weigh on sentiment. 

As of 4:00 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 futures rose 0.1%, Dow futures were down 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures were flat with a negative bias.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, has declined to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ a day ago, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has declined to ‘extremely bearish’ from ‘bearish’.

Key earnings reports expected today include Super Micro Computer (SMCI), CoreWeave (CRWV), Cava Group (CAVA), Lumentum (LITE), and Sellas (SLS).

CPI Countdown: Inflation Takes Center Stage 

July consumer price index data is due Wednesday, followed by producer price inflation on Thursday and retail sales on Friday. The CPI report is particularly important because it will be the first major inflation reading since the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision and could reset expectations for the Fed’s next move and the timing of potential rate hikes.

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack stated on Monday that she does not see inflation returning to the 2% target on its own, warning it could take more than one rate hike to bring it down.

Uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz is adding another layer to the inflation debate.

Tehran insists shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will not normalize until U.S. sanctions and asset freezes are lifted, even as President Donald Trump hardened his stance on Iran regarding compensation in future talks.

AI Plays Making News

Nvidia (NVDA): CEO Jensen Huang labeled AI data centers “investable assets” after partnering with major Wall Street firms (Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR) to mobilize over $500 billion in private capital.

Intel Corp (INTC) shares rose nearly 1% in early premarket trading on reports it is upsizing its planned share sale to roughly $20B. 

Riot Platforms (RIOT): Stock soared 21% in early premarket trade after reports that it has secured a $9.1B deal to supply computing power to AI startup Anthropic. 

CoreWeave (CRWV): Ahead of its earnings report today, the cloud computing company has secured a delayed-draw term loan facility to fund HPC infrastructure tied to customer contracts.

Space Stocks Lose Altitude After Earnings 

AST SpaceMobile Inc. (ASTS): Shares extended the selloff from its biggest 2-week hit after earnings, despite reaffirming its target to approach $1B in revenue in its first year of commercial service. 

Rocket Lab (RKLB) shares fell 9% in early premarket trading post-Q2 results despite reporting a revenue beat. The issue is a demand-supply mismatch, as management said it has a “very limited supply” of Neutron rockets coming out of the gate and needs to be selective about where it deploys them.

SpaceX (SPCX): Shares were down over 1% in early premarket trade following lockup expiration pressures, though billionaire investor Ron Baron believes that SpaceX could eventually deliver a 40x upside. 

Trending Stocks

Sellas Life Sciences (SLS): Rebounding premarket as retail traders await its Q2 earnings and updates around its pivotal REGAL Phase 3 leukemia trial.

Archer Aviation (ACHR) and Joby Aviation (JOBY) are drawing attention after Archer agreed to acquire Boeing's drone and autonomous assets, as investors compare it with Joby’s more focused commercial air-taxi strategy. 

Fermi LLC (FRMI): Shares surged 20% in early premarket trade after announcing its first binding customer lease at its Texas campus, with cloud provider TensorWave committing to a $6.5B lease. Meanwhile, retail traders on Stocktwits are speculating an announcement about the guarantor alongside Fermi’s Q2 results on Thursday. 

Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) shares tanked 7% in early premarket trading despite raising FY26 guidance and testing new peptides. While retail sentiment turned more bullish on Stocktwits, investors were focused on margin pressure and an $86 million net loss.

GoPro Inc (GPRO) stock fell 4% in early premarket trade as retail focus shifts to board-authorized strategic sale discussions. The CEO signaled that the talks have entered ‘late stages.’

Nio Inc (NIO) shares slid 4% in early premarket trade after SEC filings revealed BlackRock trimmed its stake by 12% in Q2, overshadowing strong ES9 delivery numbers. 

Strategy (MSTR) is trending on retail radar as filings revealed $108.6M in Bitcoin sales.

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Trump Media & Technology (DJT), Blackberry (BB), and Coherent Group (COHR). 

What Else To Watch Tuesday 

On the economic front, investors will be tracking the release of the existing home sales due Tuesday.

On the earnings front, Sea Ltd - ADR (SE), Arbutus Biopharma Corp (ABUS), Super Micro Computer Inc (SMCI), SELLAS Life Sciences Group Inc (SLS), CoreWeave Inc. - Ordinary Shares - Class A (CRWV), and InspireMD Inc (NSPR) are among those reporting today.

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