Nvidia reported fiscal second-quarter 2027 revenue of $96.2 billion, up 106% from $46.7 billion a year earlier, and earnings of $2.22 per share, more than double the year-ago figure. The results beat every major Wall Street forecast and arrived with third-quarter revenue guidance of $108 billion, plus or minus 2%, representing year-over-year growth of more than 89%. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress signaled strong sales growth extending into fiscal 2028, a detail that analysts noted was unusually forward-looking for the company.
Nvidia stock jumped roughly 8% in premarket trading Thursday. Salesforce, CrowdStrike, and Okta also surged by double digits before the open after their own strong quarterly reports. According to FactSet data, second-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are on pace to rise 50% year over year u2014 the highest growth rate since 2021 u2014 with AI named as the primary engine of that broad-based growth by Bank of America strategists.
S&P 500 futures were up approximately 1% in early Thursday trading, while Nasdaq-100 proxies gained more than 1%. The rally was tilted almost entirely toward technology; the Dow futures were roughly flat, and small-cap Russell 2000 ETFs were slightly negative, reflecting the continued divergence between AI-driven large-cap growth and the rest of the economy.
For business operators, the results matter beyond portfolio returns. The scale of Nvidia's data-center revenue u2014 analysts had expected as much as $85.7 billion from that segment alone u2014 confirms that cloud providers, AI startups, and enterprise technology buyers are committing capital at a historic pace. That spending cascades into software pricing, cloud service availability, and the competitive landscape for any company building AI into its products or workflows.
July's core PCE price index rose 0.2% month over month and 3.3% year over year, in line with expectations but far above the Fed's 2% target. Boston Fed President Susan Collins warned this week that rates must rise soon unless data show a sustained drop in inflation, and money markets have fully priced in a Fed hike by December. The FOMC held rates at 3.50%u20133.75% in July on a 9-3 vote, but the three dissents u2014 the first such split since 2016 u2014 underscore how close policymakers are to tightening again. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to speak Friday at the Jackson Hole symposium, a potential market-moving moment.
Both Dollar General and Dollar Tree reported second-quarter earnings Thursday morning before the open, with Wall Street watching for signs of sustained value-seeking traffic in a still-elevated inflation environment. Analysts had expected Dollar General to report earnings of roughly $2.00 per share on revenue of $11.17 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 7.5% and 4.2% respectively. Dollar Tree investors were also focused on margin trends following the company's completed sale of Family Dollar and a $2.5 billion share-repurchase authorization announced in July.
Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on approximately $20 billion worth of U.S. annual imports, imposing duties of 15%, 25%, and 50% across more than 700 products including steel, dairy, appliances, and agricultural equipment, effective September 8. The measures match Washington's 50% tariffs on Canadian goods that took effect August 22, after trade negotiations collapsed. Ottawa also announced a C$7.5 billion support package for affected Canadian businesses and workers, including C$1.5 billion specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises through its Regional Tariff Response Initiative.
A federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration illegally lowered the wages of migrant farmworkers, in a move the government said was intended to offset the effects of its immigration policies. The ruling adds to legal friction around labor costs in agriculture, a sector already absorbing tariff-driven input price increases.
Meta agreed Wednesday to pay up to $16.7 billion to a coalition of 29 states to settle landmark claims that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately engineered to addict young users, misled the public about platform risks, and unlawfully collected data from children under 13. The settlement, filed in federal court, requires Meta to impose daily time limits and night-mode restrictions for teenagers, enhance age-verification tools, and restrict access to features such as like counts and beauty filters. Meta said it expects to record a legal expense of approximately $10 billion in Q3 2026 related to the agreement. The settlement's full payout is contingent in part on whether TikTok and YouTube agree to adopt similar protections.
Boston Scientific disclosed Wednesday that a cyberattack it identified on August 25 disrupted its global IT network and key business applications, including the ability to process and ship customer orders worldwide. The $72 billion medical device maker filed an 8-K with the SEC confirming the incident and said it could not yet determine a timeline for full restoration. The attack is part of a broader wave of cyberattacks hitting life-sciences companies in 2026, including Abbott, Medtronic, Stryker, and Novo Nordisk.
Alongside its September 8 counter-tariffs, Ottawa earmarked C$1.5 billion within its broader C$7.5 billion support package specifically for the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, aimed at providing liquidity support to small and medium-sized businesses harmed by the U.S.-Canada trade war. A separate C$500 million was added to the Business Development Bank of Canada's Pivot to Grow program to help companies restructure their supply chains and reduce U.S. dependence. U.S. small business owners who export to Canada u2014 particularly in steel fabrication, food processing, and equipment manufacturing u2014 face direct cost pressure as those counter-tariffs activate on September 8.
The confluence of Nvidia's blowout quarter, strong results from Salesforce, CrowdStrike, and Okta, and S&P 500 earnings growth on pace for 50% year-over-year gains confirms that AI infrastructure investment is being monetized rapidly through software and security pricing. For small and mid-sized businesses relying on SaaS tools, cybersecurity platforms, or cloud services, the vendor pricing power demonstrated this earnings season suggests upward pressure on software line items heading into 2027 budget cycles.
The most actionable pressure point Thursday is the U.S.-Canada trade war. If your supply chain touches Canadian steel, dairy, agricultural equipment, or any of the 700-plus products targeted by Ottawa's September 8 counter-tariffs u2014 or if you export those goods northward u2014 you have roughly ten days to assess exposure, renegotiate supplier contracts, or begin sourcing alternatives. The tariffs apply even to goods compliant with existing trade agreements, and neither government has signaled a near-term offramp from the current confrontation.
On the financing side, the Federal Reserve's next move is increasingly tilted toward a hike. With core PCE holding at 3.3% and at least three FOMC members already voting to tighten, business owners carrying variable-rate debt or planning capital raises should pressure-test their models against a 3.75%u20134.00% fed funds rate. The Boston Scientific cyberattack is also a timely reminder: disruptions to order processing and shipping caused by a third-party IT breach can halt revenue as effectively as any supply-chain problem, and vendor cyber-risk assessments deserve the same scrutiny as financial audits.