US OPEN: Markets Seek Direction Following Historic Reversal Yesterday

• Amazon (AMZN.US) CEO Andy Jassy emphasized the company's need to operate like the "world's largest startup" in his annual shareholder letter released Thursday

• Alphabet (GOOGL.US) received positive analyst feedback following its Cloud Next 25 event focused on the company's cloud business.

• CarMax (KMX.US) backed away from the timing of its financial goals, joining Delta Air Lines in signaling that uncertainty around President Trump's trade policies is hindering long-term planning.

• Apple (AAPL.US) saw a sales surge amid tariff concerns, with in-store and online sales jumping 33% on Saturday compared to the average of the previous four Saturdays, according to Earnest Analytics.

Global markets are experiencing significant downward pressure after historic rally yesterday, with US indices showing substantial declines. In the Americas, most major indices are in negative territory with the US2000 down -3.67%, US100 falling -2.86%, US500 dropping -2.57%, and US30 declining -2.29%. The notable exception is the VIX volatility index, which has surged 8.84% to 30.53, indicating heightened market fear and uncertainty. BRAComp shows a modest decline of -0.15%, while MEXComp appears unchanged at 0.00%.

European markets are facing even steeper losses, with Italy's ITA40 down -3.70%, Netherlands' NED25 falling -3.65%, and France's FRA40 declining -3.46%. Germany's DE40 and Switzerland's SUI20 show similar drops of -3.39% and -3.38% respectively. The Euro Stoxx 50 (EU50) is down -3.95%, while the UK's UK100 has fared slightly better with a -1.79% decline. Spain's SPA35 shows a -1.01% drop.

In contrast to the widespread declines, a few bright spots exist with Australia's AUT20 up 4.64%, Polish W20 gaining 4.86%, and the VSTOXX index rising 5.74% to 28.53, further confirming elevated market volatility. 

S&P 500 Sectors Show Mixed Performance. Source: Bloomberg Financial LP

Current volatility observed on Wall Street. Source: xStation

The Nasdaq 100, represented by US100, has broken above the September low at 18,379. The 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level will now act as support for the bulls. If this level is broken, bears may attempt to retest the 78.6% retracement level, which coincides with the August low at 17,834. The RSI is approaching the 48.5 level, which previously signaled the return of a bullish trend when breached. Meanwhile, the MACD is narrowing, indicating a potential bullish crossover. Source: xStation 

Market News

• Amazon (AMZN.US) CEO Andy Jassy emphasized the company's need to operate like the "world's largest startup" in his annual shareholder letter released Thursday. Jassy highlighted AI as a critical competitive differentiator, noting that Amazon's AI business is "growing at triple digit YoY percentages" and represents a "multi-billion-dollar annual revenue run rate." The CEO touted Amazon's new Trainium2 chips, claiming they offer "30-40% better price-performance than other GPU-powered compute instances." Amazon has committed approximately $100 billion in planned capital expenditures this year to AI-related projects, with most directed toward AWS data centers. Jassy also pointed to growth in Amazon Pharmacy and One Medical products, indicating continued expansion of healthcare services. The company has reportedly polled employees to identify bureaucratic bottlenecks, receiving almost 1,000 responses as part of an efficiency initiative.

• Alphabet (GOOGL.US) received positive analyst feedback following its Cloud Next 25 event focused on the company's cloud business. Bloomberg Intelligence noted that Google's keynote "showcased the company's focus on the AI infrastructure market, driven by its TPU advancements and Gemini LLM capabilities," and expects Google Cloud growth "to accelerate through 2H despite tariff uncertainty." Citizens analysts left the event "believing AI technology is increasingly being productized to drive real business results," creating "a tailwind for Google Cloud." Citi maintained a "buy" rating but cut its price target to $195 from $229, citing "limited visibility related to tariffs" despite being "incrementally positive on GCP given continued progress across its AI tools." Melius Research maintained a "hold" rating with a $166 price target, noting Google Cloud "has moved quickly to match and now exceed AI capabilities of peers like AWS and Azure." Alphabet shares dropped 1.4% in premarket trading after spiking 9.7% on Wednesday.

• CarMax (KMX.US) backed away from the timing of its financial goals, joining Delta Air Lines in signaling that uncertainty around President Trump's trade policies is hindering long-term planning. While the used-car retailer reported making progress toward targets, it will remove associated timelines due to "the potential impact of broader macro factors." CarMax had previously aimed to sell more than 2 million retail and wholesale units annually between fiscal 2026 and 2030, with projected annual revenue of $33 billion and more than 5% nationwide market share. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share of 58 cents, missing the 65-cent average analyst estimate. Trump's proposed 25% tariff on auto imports is expected to have severe impacts on new car prices with spillover effects on the used market. CarMax shares tumbled 7.6% in premarket trading.

• Apple (AAPL.US) saw a sales surge amid tariff concerns, with in-store and online sales jumping 33% on Saturday compared to the average of the previous four Saturdays, according to Earnest Analytics. Consumers rushed to purchase iPhones and MacBooks before potential price increases resulting from President Trump's trade policies. Reuters reports Apple has shipped approximately 1.5 million iPhones from India to the US in an effort to circumvent Chinese tariffs, with six cargo jets carrying about 100 tons each flying out since March. The company reportedly pressured Indian airport authorities to reduce customs clearance time from 30 hours to just six hours. On Wednesday, Trump paused some tariffs while raising China's to 125%, "effective immediately." Apple has not commented on potential price hikes or US manufacturing possibilities, though The Wall Street Journal reports building complete iPhones domestically is considered impossible by experts.

Other news coming from individual S&P 500 index companies. Source: Bloomberg Financial LP