Good Morning, Traders!…👋

U.S. stock index futures rose Thursday amid optimism that the Trump administration is on the brink of a trade breakthrough, with chip stocks benefiting from news that a plan to ease export curbs is in the works.

Late Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that a news conference would be held Thursday with representatives from a "big, and highly respected, country" regarding a trade deal. Reports suggest that country may be the UK. If confirmed, the agreement would mark the first since the U.S. paused tariffs imposed on global economies last month.

The news follows indications from the administration that trade talks are underway, but markets are still awaiting concrete details.

On Wall Street, chip stocks helped drive a higher close on Wednesday, following reports that the Trump administration plans to modify a rule that restricted the export of advanced artificial intelligence chips.

Earnings Watch

Earnings hit today from Shopify $SHOP ( ▼ 0.53% )  , ConocoPhillips $COP ( ▲ 1.27% )  , and Kenvue $KVUE ( ▲ 4.11% )  before open, plus Coinbase $COIN ( ▲ 5.06% )  and DraftKings $DKNG ( ▲ 1.96% )  after close.

Analysts expect Shopify to post $0.29 EPS with e-commerce strength, Conoco to hit $2.12 EPS on oil gains, Kenvue at $0.29 EPS, Coinbase to deliver $1.45 EPS with crypto buzz, and DraftKings at -$0.12 EPS—could these beats spark rallies?

Happening Today

✓ 08:30 AM ET – Initial Jobless Claims

✓ 08:30 AM ET – Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q1)

✓ 08:30 AM ET – Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q1)

✓ 01:00 PM ET – 30-Year Bond Auction

✓ 01:00 PM ET – Atlanta Fed GDPNow (Q2)

✓ 04:30 PM ET – Fed's Balance Sheet

PREMARKET SNAPSHOT 📈

U.S. equity futures rose this morning as investors welcomed news of an impending U.S.-U.K. trade deal and the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates, boosting market optimism.

SECTOR SNAPSHOT✨

Markets showed a modest rebound with most sectors posting gains, led by consumer discretionary, healthcare, and information technology. Energy edged slightly higher, while materials and communication services lagged, with the latter down notably by nearly 2%.

PreMarket Unusual Volume Stocks

📈 Asset Entities Inc. $ASST is sharply higher in pre-market trade, jumping 51.33% with 16.55M shares traded — a staggering 160,550% surge in volume. Traders are clearly piling in early, signaling heightened interest.

📈 ZK International Group Co., Ltd $ZKIN is seeing renewed momentum, up 29.20% with volume at 5.14M, spiking over 103,000% above average. This sharp pre-market activity hints at potential developments drawing attention.

📈 Digital Ally, Inc. $DGLY has surged 65.10% pre-market, accompanied by 108.35M shares traded — a 13,145% increase in volume. This massive uptick signals aggressive speculative buying.

📈 DevvStream Corp. $DEVS is up 18.03%, with volume soaring to 13.13M, a 12,328% rise from its usual levels. The stock is attracting early momentum likely due to fresh catalysts or market chatter.

📈 PainReform Ltd. $PRFX gained 17.45% in pre-market hours, trading 1.07M shares — about 8,593% more than its average. The biotech stock is drawing strong interest, possibly on news or technical breakout signals.

Premarket Picks

Solidion Technology Inc. (STI) surged 67.48% pre-market to $0.1576 after announcing a series of key patents on solid-state batteries.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (EBS) rose 17.93% pre-market to $5.59 following the release of its Q1 2025 financials.

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (LZ) jumped 18.07% pre-market to $8.59 after meeting estimates and on double-digit subscription revenue growth plans.

PainReform Ltd. (PRFX) gained 15.42% pre-market to $2.47 after launching a strategic AI pilot with Econergy using its proprietary DeepSolar platform.

Below is a complete list of hot stocks in pre-market today:

Top Upgrades:

1. Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LPX)

Analyst Firm: Loop Capital
Analyst: Jeffrey Stevenson
Rating Change: Hold → Buy
Price Target: $110 (unchanged)
Last Close: $89.72
Implied Upside: 22.60%

Loop Capital upgraded Louisiana-Pacific to Buy, maintaining a price target of $110 as the firm sees improved housing market dynamics and product pricing strength supporting future earnings growth. Across the Street, the average 12-month price target is $108.50, with the highest estimate at $123.00.

2. CuriosityStream Inc. (CURI)

Analyst Firm: Barrington Research
Analyst: James Goss
Rating Change: Market Perform → Outperform
Price Target: $6 (unchanged)
Last Close: $4.64
Implied Upside: 28.31%

Barrington Research raised CuriosityStream to Outperform, citing improving subscription metrics and focused content strategy. With an average target of $5.40 from analysts and a high forecast of $6.00, sentiment is improving as the company sharpens its positioning in the streaming space.

3. Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMRX)

Analyst Firm: Leerink Partners
Analyst: Marc Goodman
Rating Change: Market Perform → Buy
Price Target: $10 (up from $7.30)
Last Close: $5.29
Implied Upside: 40.26%

Leerink Partners upgraded Amneal Pharmaceuticals to Buy, lifting the price target to $10 based on margin improvements, expanded generics pipeline, and favorable regulatory tailwinds. The average target among analysts stands at $11.33, indicating further upside potential.

Happy investing,

Maeve Grace
Editor In Chief
Premium Stock Alerts

Important: This newsletter does not provide investment advice. The stocks mentioned should not be taken as recommendations. Your investments are solely your decisions.

Disclosure: I hold no positions in any companies mentioned, either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.