US stock futures climbed Thursday as a blockbuster outlook from Nvidia Corp. lifted the tech sector, adding to investor optimism about the AI cycle. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.4% at 8:15 a.m. in New York, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 1%.

Salesforce Inc. was among the top performers, climbing on a strong revenue outlook and a deepened partnership with Anthropic PBC. Elsewhere in the tech space, Sandisk Corp. shares rose on plans to spend $31 billion with Kioxia Holdings Corp. to ratchet up production capacity in Japan.

The gains reflect broadening confidence in the artificial intelligence investment theme, with Nvidia's forecast acting as a key catalyst for risk appetite across major equity indexes.