Pre-market futures are taking a breather on the major indexes this morning, all but the small-cap Russell 2000, which has popped its head into the green after lagging the past couple trading sessions. The Dow is -225 points at this hour, -0.44%, the S&P 500 -17 points, -0.23% and the Nasdaq -45, -0.15%. The Russell is +1 point, +0.05%.
AI Bull Run Seeing Richest Companies Borrowing to Buy More
We won’t call this a trend just yet, but following NVIDIA’s (NVDA) recent announcement that they are loaning companies the capital to buy their AI chips, this morning we see Alphabet (GOOGL) raising $80 billion to finance more AI investment. In terms of customer-facing companies successfully employing AI, Alphabet may have no competition here in the first half of 2026.
Half of this $80 billion will consist of at-the-market moves on Class A and C shares; $10 billion will come from private funding via Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B). The company said AI demand is exceeding its current available supply. Keep in mind, Alphabet is a $4.5 TRILLION company by market cap; that it feels it needs to go to debt markets to raise funds for AI is, let’s say, curious. It might be important to see if other tech giants follow suit.
Q1 Earnings Season Nearly Tapped: DG, VSCO Report
Ahead of today’s open, Dollar General (DG) reported mixed Q1 results. Earnings of $2.00 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus of $1.89, while revenues of $10.79 billion came in -0.33% below projections. However, the company raised full-year forecasts, and shares are up +5% on the news (after tumbling -17% year to date).
Here’s a blast from the past: Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) reported Q1 numbers this morning, posting earnings of $0.60 per share versus expectations of $0.29 — for a booming +108.7% positive surprise. Revenues of $1.56 billion in the quarter outperformed estimates by +2%. This is actually the 10th-straight earnings beat for the women’s intimates firm, and the company raised revenue guidance.
After today’s close, cybersecurity major Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is expected to report +1.28% gains on earnings year over year, and +28.58% on revenues. Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is anticipated to post +2.99% earnings growth on +9.28% in revenues, year over year. The cosmetic supply giant’s average earnings beat over the past four quarters is +11%.
JOLTS Numbers for April After the Open
At 10 am ET, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report comes out. Expectations are for job openings to remain in line with the prior month, around 6.9 million. (The near-term low was 6.55 million in December of 2025, and the high was 7.31 million in May of last year.) Last time around, a big drop in Professional/Business Services jobs (-318K year over year) was key; of the four main regions, only the Northeast saw job gains in March.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.
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Dollar General Corporation (DG): Free Stock Analysis Report
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B): Free Stock Analysis Report
Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): Free Stock Analysis Report
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Victoria's Secret & Co. (VSCO): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).