Pre-Market Briefing — September 11, 2026: Oracle Soars, CPI In-Line, Copart Buys ACV

Overview

Good morning, it's Friday, September 11th. Futures are pointing to a mixed but mostly higher open. S&P 500 futures are up about half a percent, with the Nasdaq leading, up over 0.6%. Dow futures are also positive. However, the Russell 2000 is lagging, with futures down over 2%. In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury

In this show

• Good morning, it's Friday, September 11th. Futures are pointing to a mixed but mostly higher open. S&P 500 futures are up about half a percent, with the Nasdaq leading, up over 0.6%. Dow futures are also positive. However, the Russell 2000 is lagging, with futures down over 2%. In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield is holding near 4.95% after a slight dip yesterday. Oil prices are pulling back from recent highs, with WTI below $101. Overseas, Asian markets closed lower, while Europe is trading in the green this morning. Let's bring in our panel.
• On the calendar today, the main event is already out. The August Consumer Price Index was released at 8:30 AM Eastern, showing inflation remains persistent. We'll dig into those numbers shortly. On the earnings front, we've heard from Kroger, Hooker Furnishings, and Rent the Runway before the bell. There are no major reports scheduled for after the close today, and the Federal Reserve speakers are silent ahead of their policy meeting next week.
• Let's start with a huge pre-market mover, Oracle. Shares are surging over 7% after the company delivered a massive beat for its fiscal first quarter. Revenue jumped 30% to $19.3 billion. The real story is the cloud business, where infrastructure revenue soared an incredible 121% to $7.4 billion. CEO Safra Catz credited immense demand for training large language models, saying Oracle's cloud is becoming a go-to for major AI players. This report is a powerful signal that the AI infrastructure boom is far from over.
• It's a different story for Adobe this morning. The software giant's shares are down nearly 3% in pre-market trading. This comes despite a solid fiscal third-quarter report where the company posted record revenue of $6.76 billion, up 13% year-over-year. The issue is the forward-looking guidance. Adobe's forecast for fourth-quarter revenue came in just shy of what analysts were hoping for, raising new questions about its growth momentum as it navigates the competitive AI landscape. The market is punishing even the slightest hint of a slowdown.
• We have a major M&A announcement in the auto auction space. Copart is acquiring ACV Auctions in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.9 billion. Copart will pay $10.50 per share for ACV. The market is reacting strongly to the news. ACV Auctions' stock has skyrocketed over 44% pre-market to trade around the offer price. The acquirer, Copart, is also seeing a positive reaction, with its shares climbing a healthy 7% on the announcement. This deal consolidates two key players in the vehicle remarketing industry.
• GameStop is back in the headlines this morning. Shares are up more than 4% pre-market following a new filing. CEO Ryan Cohen disclosed that he has purchased another one million shares of the company's stock. The filing shows the purchase was made at an average price of $20.375 per share. This move is being interpreted as a significant vote of confidence from the company's top leader, further energizing its dedicated base of retail investors who closely track insider activity.
• Turning to the big macro story, the August inflation report is in, and it’s a mixed bag. The headline Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% for the month and 3.4% from a year ago, both right in line with expectations. The concern lies with the core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy. It rose 0.3% month-over-month, a touch hotter than forecast. This persistent underlying inflation, now at 2.4% annually, keeps the pressure squarely on the Federal Reserve as it prepares for its critical policy meeting next week.
• That sticky inflation data is having a major impact on the bond market. We're seeing an intensifying global bond selloff that has pushed the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield to the brink of 5%, a level not seen since late last year. The driver here is the fear that stubborn inflation, exacerbated by high energy prices, will force global central banks to keep interest rates higher for a much longer period. This is raising borrowing costs for everyone, from governments to corporations to consumers with a mortgage.
• In energy markets, oil prices have eased off their recent peaks but remain elevated. Brent crude, the global benchmark, is trading around $104 a barrel after a brief run above $109. WTI is also down, hovering near $101. While this pullback offers some relief, the underlying support for high prices remains: geopolitical risk. Tensions in the Middle East, particularly concerning potential shipping disruptions in the critical Strait of Hormuz, are keeping a significant risk premium baked into the price of every barrel.
• This morning's earnings give us a fascinatingly split view of the tech landscape. On one hand, you have Oracle, whose results show the AI infrastructure build-out is a tidal wave of demand, lifting hardware and core cloud providers. On the other hand, Adobe's cautious outlook suggests that application-layer software companies may face a tougher road convincing customers to upgrade. It shows the AI boom isn't lifting all boats equally, and investors are now forced to be much more selective about where they place their bets in the tech sector.
• Let's connect the dots for the American consumer. Today’s CPI report shows core inflation is proving stubborn, while the bond market is signaling that high interest rates are here to stay. This means borrowing costs for cars and homes will remain elevated, and the price of services continues to climb. This puts a company like Kroger, which reported earnings today, in a key position. How are consumers handling higher food prices? Are they trading down? The resilience of the consumer is the biggest question mark for the economy heading into year-end.
• Shares of ACV Auctions skyrocketed, closing up 44 percent after the online auto auction platform agreed to be acquired by Copart. The all-cash deal values the company at approximately $1.9 billion, representing a significant premium for shareholders. This strategic buyout combines Copart's global reach with ACV's digital marketplace technology, aiming to enhance wholesale vehicle transactions. The move underscores the ongoing consolidation and technological shift within the automotive remarketing industry.
• Oracle rallied today, closing up 7 percent after posting impressive fiscal first-quarter results that sailed past estimates. The tech giant's performance was fueled by a massive 121% surge in its cloud infrastructure revenue, as it signed over $30 billion in new AI contracts. The strong guidance suggests Oracle's heavy investment in AI data centers is successfully capturing a significant share of the booming demand for artificial intelligence workloads, boosting investor confidence.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped, ending the day up nearly 11 percent as the market cheered accelerating demand for its artificial intelligence hardware. The company has seen a significant uptick in orders for its AI-native servers and networking equipment, crucial for building out large-scale AI models. This surge in its AI systems revenue signals that HPE is effectively capitalizing on the enterprise shift toward generative AI, a key growth catalyst for the tech infrastructure sector.
• That brings us to the one thing to watch. With the August CPI data now in hand, all attention shifts to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week. While the headline inflation numbers met expectations, the stickiness of that core reading gives the central bank every reason to maintain its hawkish stance. The market is now pricing in a higher probability of another rate hike before year-end. Any signals from the Fed next week will be absolutely critical in setting the market's direction for the rest of 2026. Thanks for joining us.