Samsung Q2 profit surge rattles chip names; SpaceX joins Nasdaq-100 as Wall Street turns bullish

U.S. premarket snapshot: key developments shaping early trade. Samsung Electronics issued its Q2 earnings preview, forecasting operating profit up more than 1,800% year over year. The company said quarterly profit topped the combined total of the prior three years, while revenue climbed 129% to KRW 171 trillion. The outsized beat also fed a "good news is priced in" reaction, weighing on semiconductor names in premarket trading. Index futures were mixed: Dow futures +0.41%, Nasdaq-100 futures -0.9%, S&P 500 futures -0.09%. SpaceX was added to the Nasdaq-100 ahead of the U.S. open, with major Wall Street firms broadly constructive. Institutions increasingly frame SpaceX as a platform business rather than a pure-play aerospace contractor, pointing to its rocket launch franchise, Starlink satellite internet, AI infrastructure potential and longer-term possibilities tied to space-based computing. Separately, DeepSeek is reportedly developing its own inference chip in a bid to cut reliance on external suppliers and improve hardware cost control. The effort is said to be at an early stage and could be constrained by U.S. export controls that affect manufacturing options and memory access. In single-name calls, UBS recommends buying SK Hynix’s upcoming ADRs and selling its South Korean-listed shares, expecting the new ADRs to command a higher trading price. JPMorgan strategists argue the recent pullback in semiconductor stocks should be treated as a buying opportunity. They maintain the chip upcycle is not close to ending, with meaningful new supply unlikely to arrive before 2028. On the macro front, the U.S. ADP employment change for the week ending June 20 came in at +21,000, sharply below the prior +307,500 reading. In ETFs, BlackRock plans to launch a Nasdaq-100 tracking fund—an index heavily tilted to technology—seeking to capture demand for exposure to AI-led rallies and to challenge Invesco’s long-standing dominance in the segment. In credit markets, Amazon is returning to the U.S. bond market to fund its AI infrastructure buildout. The company plans to sell eight benchmark tranches with maturities from 3 to 40 years, targeting at least $25 billion from the U.S. dollar offering. Brokerage coverage on Elon Musk’s SpaceX (SPCX.O) is also rolling out, with initial Wall Street consensus clustering around "Buy." At least six firms—including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and UBS—have issued Buy ratings, citing long-term growth potential despite ongoing questions around profitability and valuation. (Source: BlockBeats)