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Good morning. As we remember Dolly Parton’s legacy, I’ve particularly enjoyed learning more about her Imagination Library in Cincinnati.
Nasdaq-100 futures are higher this morning. The market is coming off a muted day.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Processing the report
Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks during the Nvidia GTC conference in San Jose, California, US, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Nvidia silenced its skeptics yesterday with strong quarterly results and a better-than-expected revenue forecast. The chipmaker beat analysts’ expectations on both lines and reported a more than 100% year-over-year jump in quarterly revenue, sending the stock more than 6% higher before the bell.
Here’s what to know:
- CFO Colette Kress told analysts that the tech giant expects 70% revenue growth for the 2028 fiscal year — above analysts’ 44% projection — even amid supply constraints.
- Nvidia also said that Amazon Web Services would purchase 2 million of its graphic processors, offering an encouraging sign for investors worried that hyperscaler spending could shrink.
- Speaking to CNBC’s Jim Cramer last night, CEO Jensen Huang pushed back against criticism of his company’s role in financing other artificial intelligence firms: “I think they’re missing a very big point,” he said, calling startups’ hefty funding needs “really the nature of AI.”
- With its premarket gain, Nvidia’s stock appears poised to end to its recent track record of dropping after reporting earnings.
- Nvidia isn’t the only tech stock rising before the bell: Salesforce is 11% higher on its own better-than-expected earnings report, while Okta jumped nearly 20% as demand for its identity security products spiked due to agentic AI.
- Those moves are helping drive Nasdaq-100 futures higher this morning. Follow live market updates here.
2. Closed book?
The Facebook app product page is seen on the Apple App Store, showing a 4.5-star rating from 1.3 million reviews, displayed on a smartphone held in an unidentified person’s hand in this photo illustration taken on July 22, 2026, in the United States.
Matteo Della Torre | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Meta on Wednesday settled a major case with a group of state attorneys general who alleged that the social media giant misrepresented child-related mental health harms tied to its platforms. The Facebook parent agreed to pay $16.7 billion under the agreement, which was approved by the court later yesterday afternoon.
Beyond financial concessions, Meta must also make changes to its apps including adding daily usage limits and nighttime blocks for teenagers, and introducing new tools for parents and guardians.
But as CNBC’s Jonathan Vanian writes, the settlement isn’t the end of Meta’s legal woes. “It is not preemptive in any way,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Wednesday, calling the settlement “a floor conceptually, not a ceiling.” Bonta, who co-led the suit, will join CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” at 10 a.m. ET today. Watch live on CNBC or CNBC+.
3. Opening up
OpenAI is sharing more details about how its AI models breached Hugging Face last month, what OpenAI has called an “unprecedented cyber incident.”
In its 37-page report, the AI company documented how its models navigated a series of evaluations before and during the incident. OpenAI also said it’s focused on improving its security and containment, monitoring, model behavior and incident response in hopes of preventing a similar situation in the future.
Meanwhile, Nvidia reportedly agreed to buy Hugging Face — the open-source platform hacked by OpenAI’s agents — for $12.9 billion. Such a deal would extend the chipmaker’s reach into open-source models and software. Neither company confirmed the report.
4. Delivering a decision
Mail-in ballots sit in containers from the US Postal Service waiting to be processed by election workers at the Salt Lake County election office in Salt Lake City, Utah on Oct. 29, 2020.
George Frey | AFP | Getty Images
A federal judge lifted the last injunction stopping President Donald Trump’s mail-in voting order, allowing the White House to impose new requirements before November’s midterm election.
The U.S. Postal Service previously said it wouldn’t apply the rule to elections this year unless both injunctions were lifted, which is now the case following Wednesday’s ruling. The USPS did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction, said a Supreme Court ruling on a related case necessitated her reconsideration. But Democratic-led states filed a new lawsuit against the rule on Wednesday, and voting-rights groups amended their ongoing complaint.
5. Making dough
GUILDERLAND, NY – JUNE 11: Mike Richman, owner of the Ta-Da! toy store, squishes a glitter ice cube squishy on Thursday, June 11, 2026, in his shop in Stuyvesant Plaza in Guilderland, NY. (Jim Franco/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)
Albany Times Union/hearst Newspapers | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images
Squishy toys are taking off in the U.S. Sales hit around $297 million through June, according to Circana’s Entertainment Knowledge Group, quadrupling sales from the same time a year ago.
The malleable toys — which can be shaped like dumplings and ice cubes — have gained traction on social media. As CNBC’s Jenny Lee writes, their relatively low prices may help that online buzz translate into sales.
Euromonitor International’s Loo Wee Teck said that the product category plays into the broader trend of anti-digital play. But it remains to be seen whether excitement for squishy toys will cool over time following the current boom.
The Daily Dividend
Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, July’s personal consumption expenditures price index released yesterday showed that inflation is still elevated. Here are the headline numbers:
- Seasonally adjusted monthly increase: 0.2%
- Annual inflation rate: 3.7%
— CNBC’s Kif Leswing, Tobias Burns, Jordan Novet, Samantha Subin, Jonathan Vanian, Ashley Capoot, Luke Fountain, Jenny Lee and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
Luke Fountain assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.
