12:23 PM EDT, 10/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rose in midday trading on Wednesday amid gains in technology ahead of the start of the Q3 earnings season.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9% to 22,988.7, with the S&P 500 up 0.6% to 6,753.8 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.4% higher at 46,792. Technology was the top gainer intraday, while consumer staples led the decliners.

In a category of mega-cap companies with a market capitalization of $200 billion or more, most of the top-10 outperformers were from the semiconductor and software industries, with Micron Technology ( MU ) and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) leading this pack intraday. All members of the so-called Magnificent-7 stocks, including Microsoft ( MSFT ) , Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), and Amazon ( AMZN ) , rose.

Technology giants such as Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet, and Amazon ( AMZN ), riding the wave of the artificial intelligence boom, are poised to report "very strong" Q3 results, according to Wedbush Securities. "Our bullish view is that investors are still not fully appreciating the tidal wave of growth on the horizon from the $3 trillion of spending over the next 3 years coming from enterprise and government spending around AI technology and use cases."

Between June 30 and Sept. 30, Wall Street analysts have increased their Q3 earnings per share estimate for S&P 500 companies to $67.41 from $67.32, according to a FactSet note. "In a typical quarter, analysts usually reduce earnings estimates during the quarter. During the past five years (20 quarters), the average decline in the bottom-up EPS estimate has been 1.4%."

Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Micron Technology ( MU ) to $180 from $145 while maintaining a neutral rating on the stock.

Advanced Micro Devices' ( AMD ) recent deal with Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed OpenAI is a major validation of the chipmaker's roadmap that could likely attract more clients, UBS said in a research note. Loop Capital lifted Advanced Micro Devices' ( AMD ) price target to $240 from $195 while keeping the stock's buy rating.