By Joe Woelfel

Stock futures were tumbling Monday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite set to open sharply lower as Chinese artificial-intelligence startup DeepSeek threatened U.S. dominance in the field.

These stocks were poised to make moves Monday:

Nvidia, the leading maker of AI chips, dropped 10%, and ASML, the Dutch maker of chip-manufacturing machines, sank 10% in U.S. premarket trading, after news that Chinese AI company DeepSeek developed an open-source large language model that competes with Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT and uses less computing power. Vertiv Holdings, the maker of power and cooling equipment for data centers, plunged 18%.

A report from Reuters over the weekend said the Trump administration was working on a plan to save TikTok that involves Oracle and a group of outside investors taking control of the app's global operations. President Donald Trump said he was in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok and likely would have a decision on the app's future within 30 days, according to Reuters. Oracle shares were down 7.3%. Last week, the company, along with OpenAI and SoftBank Group, announced an investment of as much as $500 billion in building artificial-intelligence infrastructure in the U.S. in a joint venture known as Stargate.

Venture Global was down 3% in premarket trading to $23.25. Shares of the exporter of liquefied natural gas fell 4% to $24, below their initial-public-offering price of $25, in their trading debut on Friday. The IPO valued Venture Global at $60 billion, the largest initial public offering for a U.S. energy company in history. The IPO was priced in the middle of its $23 to $27 a share range, which was a cut to its earlier range of $40 to $46 a share.

United States Steel fell 2.3% after The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported activist investor Ancora Holdings is preparing to wage a proxy battle at the steel company and wants U.S. Steel to drop its plans to merge with Japan's Nippon Steel. Ancor also seeks the ouster of U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt.

Earnings reports are expected Monday from AT&T, SoFi Technologies, and Nucor.

Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles, is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell Wednesday. Margins during the period will be closely watched by investors. Analysts expect operating profit margins of about 10.5%, up from about 8% in the same quarter a year earlier. Tesla shares fell 3.4% in premarket trading.

Reports are also expected later in the week from Apple, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Intel, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Visa, Mastercard, Starbucks, General Motors, Royal Caribbean, Caterpillar, Comcast, United Parcel Service, ASML Holding, T-Mobile, International Business Machines, AbbVie, ServiceNow, Altria, SAP, and RTX.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com

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January 27, 2025 05:34 ET (10:34 GMT)

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