Stock market today: S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow futures mixed with US-Iran talks, earnings in focus

US stock futures edged lower on Tuesday after a strong session that pushed the major benchmarks to fresh highs.

Contracts tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) dropped 0.1%, as Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) futures fell roughly 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) added 0.1%, after Wall Street stocks closed mixed on Monday.

Wall Street is on watch for any progress toward Middle East peace talks, as the US-Iran standoff keeps oil supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz at a standstill. The White House said US officials are discussing Tehran’s latest proposal for both sides to lift restrictions, but stressed that “red lines” remain on any deal.

Meanwhile, investors are focused on one of the busiest stretches of earnings season, with quarterly reports from General Motors (GM), Visa (V), and Seagate (STX) on Tuesday’s docket. Heavily anticipated results from “Magnificent Seven” tech megacaps follow on Wednesday, when Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Microsoft (MSFT) are set to release updates.

Also in focus, the Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday. Policymakers are expected to hold rates steady in their decision on Wednesday, and investors will listen out for Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments as his term draws to a close and President Trump-backed Kevin Warsh, pursues confirmation as his successor.

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GM earnings preview: Tariffs, weaker consumer may weigh on Q1 results

General Motors (GM) is expected to report quarterly results Tuesday morning that will reflect a mixed environment for the automaker, with tariffs, consumer fears, and a weaker electric vehicle business all top of mind for investors.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian sets out what’s in play for the Big Three automaker.

Analysts expect GM to post first quarter revenue of $43.68 billion, down slightly from the $44 billion reported a year ago. GM is expected to report Q1 adjusted earnings per share of $2.62.

… Earlier this month, GM said Q1 US sales fell 9.7% from a year ago to 626,429 vehicles, though the automaker held onto its US sales crown thanks to a strong March, which helped claw back ground lost during a winter-storm-disrupted January and February.

GM said that year-over-year comparisons were skewed by an exceptionally strong Q1 last year, before President Trump’s tariffs went into effect on April 1.

Read more here.

OpenAI fails to hit revenue targets before upcoming IPO

Reuters reports:

OpenAI has fallen short of its goals for new users and revenue in recent months, sparking concern among some company leaders over whether it can support its extensive data-center spending, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

• CFO Sarah Friar has expressed concerns to other company leaders that the ChatGPT creator might not be able to pay for future computing contracts if revenue doesn’t grow fast enough, according to the report.

• OpenAI missed multiple monthly revenue targets earlier this year after losing ground to Anthropic in coding and enterprise markets, the report said.

• "This is ridiculous. We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day," CEO and co-founder Sam Altman and Friar said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

• ChatGPT's growth slowed toward the end of last year, the WSJ report said, adding that OpenAI fell short of an internal target to reach 1 billion weekly active users for the artificial intelligence chatbot by year-end.

• The company has also grappled with subscriber defections, the report added.

Read more here.

Oil holds just below $110 a barrel with Iran peace proposals leaving markets unchanged

Bloomberg reports:

Oil held a gain as traders weighed the next steps toward peace talks over the Iran war, with the US discussing a proposal from Tehran while the crucial Strait of Hormuz remained almost impassable.

Brent (BZ=F) crude traded near $108 a barrel after advancing 2.8% on Monday, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) was above $96. US President Donald Trump convened a meeting to discuss the proposal, but maintained red lines on any deal to end the war, including preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

A ceasefire has broadly held since early April, but a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and the US has reduced daily transits of the waterway to near zero. The closure has choked off flows of crude, natural gas and oil products, driving up energy prices and raising concerns about an inflation crisis.

Read more here.