August 21 Morning Read: futures rise as ABAT reports record gross profit

Macro overnight

U.S. equity futures pointed modestly higher early Friday after all three headline indexes fell on Thursday. At 3:58 a.m. EDT on August 21, 2026, September S&P 500 futures were 7,680.75, up 0.24% from the prior settlement; Nasdaq-100 futures were 29,438.50, up 0.47%; and Dow futures were 52,969, up 0.23%. The gains recovered only part of Thursday’s cash-market decline, so they show a firmer opening indication rather than a reversal already secured.

Rates remained an important cross-check. At 4:08 a.m. EDT, the U.S. 2-year Treasury yield was 4.189% and the 10-year was 4.706%. The Treasury’s official August 20 par-yield curve had closed at 4.19% and 4.69%, respectively. At the 4:10 a.m. EDT snapshot on August 21, the delayed Cboe VIX dashboard showed 15.84, below its 16.01 prior close.

Asia finished mixed: Japan slipped while Hong Kong and South Korea advanced. Early European trading was mildly positive. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index stood at 98.744, down 0.15%. October WTI futures were $86.43, down 0.46%, while December gold futures rose 1.07% to $4,620.40. The combination of higher equity futures, a softer dollar and stronger gold was not a single risk-on signal; rates and commodities were sending different messages.

Your tickers

American Battery Technology Company (ABAT) released preliminary, unaudited results after Thursday’s close for its fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, 2026. Revenue reached $8.2 million, up 5.1% from the prior quarter. Cost of goods sold fell 2.8% to $6.9 million, lifting gross profit to $1.3 million, an 86% sequential increase and the company’s highest quarterly gross profit from operations. Cash was $50.3 million, including $49.5 million unrestricted and $0.8 million restricted, and the company reported $0.0 million of debt.

ABAT also said it successfully appealed the termination of a $57 million U.S. Department of Energy grant supporting the $115 million first processing train at its Tonopah Flats Lithium Project. That positive funding development sits beside a new operating uncertainty. A Commerce Department rule published August 6 requires U.S. sellers of black mass and tungsten waste and scrap to allocate 100% of monthly sales to U.S. persons from August 27, 2026 through August 27, 2027, unless an adjustment or exception is obtained.

The company said black mass represents the majority of its total revenue and that substantially all current black-mass customers are outside the United States. It has requested an exception. The release also cautioned that the preliminary quarter has not been audited or reviewed and that the full fiscal-year statements are expected within 90 days of June 30. For readers following ABAT, the record gross profit and restored grant improve the operating picture, while the export-allocation rule creates a near-term customer and revenue-conversion test.

What to watch today

• 9:30 a.m. EDT handoff: whether the modest futures gains hold when cash-market liquidity returns.
• Rates: whether the 10-year yield remains near 4.71%; another move higher could offset the early equity-futures rebound.
• ABAT price discovery: the market’s balance between preliminary margin improvement, restored grant support and the August 27 sales-allocation risk.
• Cross-asset confirmation: gold is stronger while oil and the dollar are softer, so a broad risk label needs confirmation rather than assumption.

For options readers, the overnight board is context rather than an executable contract quote. A cash-secured put or covered call still depends on the exact expiry and strike, bid-ask spread, open interest, event calendar, full cash or share obligation, and assignment tolerance. Preliminary corporate results and a dated regulatory change can also widen spreads or shift implied volatility after the opening print.