US stock futures flat, Nvidia dips as guidance underwhelms

Investing.com- U.S. stock index futures moved little in evening deals on Wednesday as markets digested a mixed showing from artificial intelligence major Nvidia, which clocked strong earnings but presented an outlook that just scraped past estimates. Futures moved little after a muted session on Wall Street, as anticipation of NVIDIA Corporation's (NASDAQ:NVDA) earnings deterred any big bets. Sentiment also remained strained amid increased tensions over Russia and Ukraine, and as earnings from retail giant Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) fell well short of expectations. S&P 500 Futures steadied at 5,939.0 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures were flat at 20,751.25 points by 18:35 ET (23:35 GMT). Dow Jones Futures steadied at 43,551.0 points. Nvidia falls as guidance beat underwhelms Nvidia shares fell more than 1% in aftermarket trade to around $144.0, trimming some losses after falling as much as 2% just after its earnings. Earnings per share rose to $0.81 on revenue of $35.1 billion, higher than expectations of $0.75 in EPS and $33.09 billion in revenue. But Nvidia forecast fourth quarter revenue of $37.5 billion, plus or minus 2%. The guidance was just above estimates of $37.09 billion, underwhelming some traders hoping for a much bigger beat, especially given the stellar run-up in Nvidia’s valuation this year. The forecast also indicated a slower pace of revenue growth than seen in prior quarters. Nvidia, which recently overtook Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) to become the world’s most valuable listed company, flagged supply constraints, especially in its upcoming Blackwell line of next-generation AI chips. But the firm said demand for its advanced AI chips remained robust. Other major chipmaking stocks were mostly muted in evening deals on Wednesday, as investors digested the mixed outlook from Nvidia, which is considered as a bellwether for AI demand. TSMC (NYSE:TSM) fell 0.2%, while Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Nvidia rival AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) both rose slightly. Wall St muted as Target slumps; more econ. cues awaited Wall Street indexes marked a muted close on Wednesday amid caution before Nvidia, while investors were also rattled by a nearly 22% slide in Target after the retailer missed expectations for its September quarter earnings. Target steadied in evening trade, although its earnings also raised some questions over weakening retail spending. The S&P 500 ended flat at 5,917.11 points, while the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.1% to 18,966.08 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 43,408.47 points. Focus was now on a swathe of U.S. economic readings due in the coming days, with weekly jobless claims and home sales data due on Thursday. Purchasing managers index data for November is due on Friday. Several Federal Reserve officials are also set to speak in the coming days.