• Stock futures are little changed as investors aim for a third-straight winning session.
• Google is the latest tech giant to scrap its diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
• Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers Squibb reported fourth quarter results.

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

1. Surp(rise)

Despite steep losses from Alphabet and AMD, stocks climbed higher Wednesday, notching their second straight day of gains after worries around tariffs weighed on the market earlier in the week. The S&P 500 closed up 0.39% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.19%, while a 5% gain in shares of Nvidia helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise 317.24 points, or 0.71%. Stock futures were little changed Thursday morning as investors braced for earnings results from Peloton, Yum Brands, Amazon and others. Follow live market updates.

2. Bumpy road ahead

Ford Motor topped Wall Street's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations Wednesday, but the automaker cautioned that 2025 won't be a smooth ride. The company said its guidance for the year ahead "presumes headwinds related to market factors," including 2% industry lower pricing and slightly lower wholesales. But there's one thing Ford didn't consider in its forecast: additional tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. "We're going to let this run itself out so we can better understand the potential impacts on our business," Ford CFO Sherry House said Wednesday, noting the current pause on the Mexico and Canada tariffs. Shares of the automaker dropped more than 5% in extended trading.

3. Deleting DEI

Google parent Alphabet is scrapping its diversity, equity and inclusion goals, becoming the latest tech giant to roll back its DEI initiatives following President Donald Trump's election. "We'll continue to invest in states across the U.S. — and in many countries globally — but in the future we will no longer have aspirational goals," Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi wrote in a memo seen by CNBC. Google on Wednesday also opened its Gemini 2.0 AI model suite to everyone — the latest stage of the tech giant's virtual agents push.

4. Fed fears

In a break from their typical avoidance of commenting on fiscal policy, Federal Reserve officials in recent days have expressed warnings about the potential impact Trump's wide-ranging tariffs may have on inflation. "If we see inflation rising or progress stalling in 2025, the Fed will be in the difficult position of trying to figure out if the inflation is coming from overheating or if it's coming from tariffs," Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Wednesday, noting that the distinction will be critical in the central bank's interest rate decision making.

5. Prognosis mixed

Shares of Eli Lilly were slightly higher in premarket trading Thursday after the drugmaker reported mixed results for its fourth quarter. The results, which were in line with the company's preliminary figures shared in January, come after Eli Lilly slashed its 2024 revenue guidance last month, saying demand for its weight loss and diabetes drugs would not meet its expectations. Fellow pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb also reported fourth-quarter results before the bell, posting a beat on the top and bottom lines. Bristol Myers Squibb shares were nearly 5% lower, though, after the company's full-year guidance fell short of analysts' expectations. Bristol Myers Squibb is also expanding its cost savings effort, saying it will cut $2 billion in costs by the end of 2027.

— CNBC's Sean Conlon, Sarah Min, Mike Wayland, Jennifer Elias, Hayden Field, Jeff Cox and Annika Kim Constantino contributed to this report.