U.S. stock futures slipped slightly on Tuesday as investors prepared for a wave of major corporate earnings reports that could provide new clues about the health of both Corporate America and the broader economy. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) will headline the results after the closing bell, while Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) climbed in late trading following reassurance from executives on loan losses. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced that its cloud platform is back online, and Sanae Takaichi is on track to make history as Japan’s first female prime minister.
Futures drift lower ahead of earnings flood
U.S. stock index futures pointed modestly lower in early trading. By 03:16 ET, Dow futures were down 86 points (0.2%), S&P 500 futures slipped 9 points (0.1%) and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 42 points (0.2%).
Wall Street ended Monday on a high note, with broad gains in technology and financial stocks, upbeat corporate earnings, and reduced fears over regional bank stability. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares hit fresh record highs after bullish reports on strong iPhone 17 sales momentum.
Optimism around trade talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, expected later this month in South Korea, also lifted sentiment. A White House official said the prolonged U.S. government shutdown “could be coming as soon as this week,” adding to the positive tone.
Netflix set to report after the bell
The pace of earnings season accelerates this week with Netflix in the spotlight.
Netflix shares are up more than 39% this year, reflecting investor confidence in the company’s push to grow its advertising business and consolidate its leadership in streaming. However, attention will also be on how it is responding to controversy following calls by Elon Musk for users to cancel subscriptions over a disputed animated show.
Other key names reporting Tuesday include GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) and RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX).
Zions Bancorp reassures after loan loss news
Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) rose in extended trading after reporting higher third-quarter net interest income of $672 million, up from $620 million a year earlier.
The results followed last week’s disclosure of a $50 million loss on two commercial and industrial loans in California — an announcement that, along with similar updates from Western Alliance and Jefferies, triggered a sharp selloff in regional bank stocks.
Zions Chief Credit Officer Derek Steward told analysts the bank was “confident this was an isolated incident in our portfolio.”
Amazon resolves AWS outage
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) said its Amazon Web Services operations have returned to normal after Monday’s outage, which took hundreds of websites offline worldwide. The company noted that message backlogs would take a few hours to clear.
The disruption, caused by a regional gateway issue on the U.S. East Coast, affected several platforms including Perplexity, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD).
Takaichi set to make history in Japan
Sanae Takaichi won a key lower house vote on Tuesday, paving the way to become Japan’s first female prime minister later in the day.
The 64-year-old Liberal Democratic Party leader won 237 votes — a clear majority in the 465-seat lower chamber. While she did not secure a majority in the upper house, the outcome effectively confirms her appointment as Japan’s 104th prime minister.
Takaichi will succeed Shigeru Ishiba, who resigned in September after poor election results. Known for her fiscally dovish stance, she is expected to boost government spending on infrastructure, industrial development, and defense as Japan faces slowing consumer demand, persistent inflation, and trade headwinds from U.S. tariffs.