Stock futures are slightly higher as investors evaluate latest batch of earnings

Stock futures rose slightly Wednesday night as investors took in more big corporate earnings reports.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 40 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each inched higher by 0.1% as well.

Several companies reported their quarterly results after the bell, including Disney, MGM, Mattel and Affirm. Disney shares gained more than 5% in after-hours trading after the company posted smaller subscriber losses and a beat on top and bottom lines.

Investors have been watching earnings season closely for insight on how companies have fared amid high inflation and clues on how they’re managing going forward.

In the regular trading session, the Dow fell by 207 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 slid 1.1% to 4,117 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.7%.

Investors returned their focus to the latest batch of corporate earnings, a day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks that inflation is coming down, but the central bank may not necessarily be ready to slow or stop rate increases.

“The next level that the rally could go to would be about that 4,300, that gets you back to the August high. But then once we would get to 4,300, we’d be trading at 19 and a half times earnings – that’s really, really expensive, unless you have a Fed that’s actively easing policy,” Cameron Dawson, chief investment officer at NewEdge Wealth, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”

“The technicals have certainly improved – they look better than at any time in 2022 and so we have to respect that – but from a fundamental perspective, we really see a challenge of getting anywhere north of that,” she added.

On Thursday, investors are looking forward to another batch of earnings reports. Hilton, PepsiCo and Kellogg are scheduled to report their results before the bell Thursday morning. PayPal, Lyft and Expedia will report after the market closes.

In economic data, traders are also keeping an eye on weekly unemployment claims, due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.