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Futures up: Dow 0.12%, S&P 500 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.19%

Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were

slightly higher on Wednesday, stabilizing after volatile

sessions earlier this week as investors assessed risks to the AI

trade and ​brewing tariff doubts heading into Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings

due later in the day.

February ‌has been a choppy month for U.S. equities as

investors questioned if massive AI spending touted by technology

giants was actually paying off, while tariff uncertainty ⁠further

stoked volatility.

Several sectors ranging from commercial real estate to

trucking and logistics have recently logged steep declines, as

new ⁠developments in the AI space stoked worries of industry-wide

disruptions.

"Investors are searching for long-term 'winners' ‌that will

use AI to become ‌more productive, but very few companies have

quantified the impact on earnings," Goldman Sachs analysts said

in a note.

"For the companies facing fears of AI ​disruption, we believe

earnings stabilization is the key to share price ‌stabilization,

but disruption uncertainty is unlikely to be resolved in the

near term."

U.S. President Donald Trump boasted of stock market gains in

his State of the Union speech on Tuesday and said ​that "almost

all" countries and corporations want to stick to tariff ​and

investment agreements previously ‌made with the United States.

Trump's temporary global tariff of 10% came into effect on

Tuesday after the Supreme Court's sweeping ruling last week. He

later said the levy would be 15%, but it was ⁠unclear when and if

it would apply.

Stocks got a boost on Tuesday as sentiment towards AI stocks

improved, ⁠with the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing more than

1% higher.

At 04:49 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dow E-minis were up

58 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 10 points,

or 0.14%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 48.75 points,

or 0.19%.

All eyes will be on Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings due after

markets close on Wednesday, with AI investors seeking evidence

that the chipmaker's ⁠profits are growing ‌on the back of Big

Tech's $630 billion capital spending budget for 2026.

Its shares edged ‌0.5% higher in premarket trading, while

other megacap and growth stocks were mixed.

Axon Enterprise ( AXON ) climbed 15.9% after the taser-maker

beat ⁠fourth-quarter profit estimates, while Workday

dropped 8.9% after the enterprise software maker forecast fiscal

2027 subscription revenue below estimates.

First Solar ( FSLR ) shed 15.2% after the solar panel maker

projected annual sales below estimates, while HP Inc ( HPQ )

lost 5.1% as the personal devices maker forecast a slump in its

PC shipments.

Off-price retailer TJX Companies ( TJX ) and home

improvement retailer Lowe's Companies are some of the

prominent companies reporting earnings before the bell.

Earnings from major software firms including Salesforce ( CRM )

, Intuit and Snowflake will be on the

radar later this week, given that the ​S&P 500 software and

services index has slumped almost 23% so far this

year amid growing AI disruption fears.

At least three Federal Reserve officials are slated to speak

throughout the day as investors hunt for clues on the future

monetary policy ​path. Two Fed officials speaking on Tuesday

signaled no ‌near-term appetite to change the setting of central

bank interest rate policy.