Software stocks struggle, Google’s AI spending, layoffs surge and more in Morning Squawk

Happy Thursday. Taco Bell’s parent company reported strong same-store sales growth for the chain yesterday, which makes me wonder how much my Crunchwrap Supreme orders contributed.

Stock futures are falling this morning. The S&P 500 saw another losing session yesterday.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Pressure on software stocks has intensified in recent days. While industry executives are telling investors not to panic, Wall Street appears unconvinced that the sector can continue to thrive as artificial intelligence pushes further into enterprise business.

Here’s what to know:

Alphabet beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter expectations on both lines yesterday. The Google parent’s cloud business reported a better-than-expected quarter, though its YouTube advertising totals came in lower than forecast.

Alphabet also announced that its capital expenditures spend for this year could be more than double its 2025 total, as the California-based company focuses on building out AI infrastructure. But Wall Street didn’t seem to approve: Shares dropped more than 4% in premarket trading this morning.

On the other hand, companies who provide AI-related products to Google jumped after it unveiled its bold AI spending plan. Broadcom, which helps Google make the tensor processing units its AI software runs on, climbed as much as 6% in extended trading.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said it would release December’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey at 10 a.m. ET today, two days after its planned release date. The data was delayed by the short-lived federal government shutdown.

Looking ahead, the all-important nonfarm payrolls report for January was pushed to next Wednesday, instead of tomorrow. Data on consumer prices and earnings will also be postponed, according to the BLS.

Other labor data this week has offered a bad omen for the forthcoming jobs data. The ADP said yesterday that private companies added fewer jobs than economists anticipated in January. This morning, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that January layoffs were the highest for the month since 2009, surging more than 200% from December.

President Donald Trump said in an interview yesterday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “should be very worried.” The comments come as Trump has threatened strikes on the country unless it agrees to a deal governing its nuclear program. “They’re negotiating with us,” Trump told NBC News.

Oil jumped following Trump’s comments, with U.S. crude and the global benchmark Brent each rising more than 3% yesterday. But oil prices fell overnight as traders looked ahead to talks between Washington and Tehran set for Friday.

As CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan reports, Iran wants to focus the talks on its nuclear dispute with the West, while the U.S. also wants to discuss Iran’s ballistic missile program and human rights record.

For more than a year, conservative activist Robby Starbuck has pressured companies to back out of the Corporate Equality Index, a two-decade-old assessment of how businesses treat LGBTQ+ employees. New data from the index’s operator released yesterday shows the impact of the anti-DEI movement.

The Human Rights Campaign reported a 65% drop in Fortune 500 companies participating in its 2026 CEI index compared to last year. The number of participating Fortune 500 firms fell from nearly 380 to just over 130.

As CNBC’s Laya Neelakandan reports, the HRC said that many companies who ceased involvement hold federal contracts. On the other hand, the group said more than 500 of the 1,450 companies that did participate achieved the top score.

Electric vehicle maker Rivian is banking on its forthcoming R2 vehicle to help it return to profitability. CEO RJ Scaringe gave CNBC’s Robert Ferris an early look at the car.

CNBC’s Jordan Novet, Seema Mody, Lisa Han, Arjun Kharpal, Samantha Subin, Kif Leswing, Sean Conlon, Sarah Min, Jennifer Elias, Spencer Kimball, Lee Ying Shan, Jeff Cox, Laya Neelakandan and Robert Ferris contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.