07:19 AM EST, 02/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets were tracking in the red before the opening bell Thursday as investors assess tech bellwether Nvidia's ( NVDA ) latest quarterly results.

The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq edged down 0.1% each in premarket activity. The indexes finished Wednesday higher for the second consecutive trading session.

Shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) were up 0.8% pre-bell as the chipmaker reported fiscal fourth-quarter results above Wall Street's estimates, with the artificial intelligence boom continuing to fuel computing demand. For the current quarter, the company expects consolidated revenue of $78 billion, plus or minus 2%.

"Nvidia ( NVDA ) delivered a quarter and guide for the record books blowing away Street estimates," Wedbush Securities said in a Thursday client note. "Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings/guidance and bullish commentary from (Chief Executive Jensen Huang) will be a positive catalyst for tech stocks and give an important validation moment around global demand drivers/magnitude for the (artificial intelligence) revolution."

Salesforce (CRM) fell 3.5% as the customer relationship management platform issued a weak full-year revenue outlook at the midpoint. Synopsys ( SNPS ) and Snowflake (SNOW) decreased 3.6% and 1.7%, respectively, following their latest quarterly results. Zoom Communications ( ZM ) declined 4.9%.

Software stocks have come under pressure recently on fears about AI's disruptive impact on the sector.

"We remain positive on artificial intelligence broadly, but volatility in the information technology space has been a dominant theme this year -- and really since last October," Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said in a report on Wednesday. "We expect cyclical companies to potentially benefit when the global economy is growing above average as it is now, which is an additional factor that supports the broadening out of markets."

Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ) , Sempra ( SRE ) , Vistra ( VST ) , Baidu ( BIDU ) , Hormel Foods ( HRL ) , Donaldson (DCI), J.M. Smucker (SJM) and Gildan Activewear ( GIL ) are scheduled to release their earnings before the bell, among others. Intuit (INTU), Monster Beverage ( MNST ) and Dell Technologies ( DELL ) post their results after the markets close.

US Treasury yields were mixed in premarket action, with the two-year rate retreating 0.4 basis points to 3.47%, while the 10-year rate inclined 0.2 basis points to 4.05%.

Thursday's economic calendar has the weekly jobless claims bulletin at 8:30 am ET, followed by the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for February at 11 am. Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman is slated to speak at 10 am.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.6% to $64.4 a barrel before the open. Gold slipped 0.7% to $5,189 per troy ounce, while bitcoin was off 1.3% to $68,187.