U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling more than 1% each, as Treasury yields rose again and investors assessed the latest batch of quarterly corporate results and forecasts.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 332.57 points, or 0.98%, to 33,665.08, the S&P 500 fell 58.60 points, or 1.34%, to 4,314.60 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 219.44 points, or 1.62%, to 13,314.30.
Market Movers
These stocks were making moves Wednesday:
United Airlines (UAL) reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations but shares sank 9.7% after the carrier issued a gloomier fourth-quarter outlook, citing higher fuel costs and interruptions in service to Israel that will hit its results. The Israel-Hamas war has raged for more than a week.
Morgan Stanley (MS) reported third-quarter earnings of $1.38 a share, topping forecasts of $1.31. Overall profit slid 8% to $2.4 billion. Persistent weakness in investment banking sent the stock tumbling 6.8%.
Procter & Gamble (PG) reported fiscal first-quarter core earnings of $1.83 a share, beating analysts’ forecasts of $1.72. The consumer-goods giant behind Tide and many other household products lowered its all-in sales forecast for fiscal 2024 to a range of 2% to 4%, from previous guidance of 3% to 4%, citing headwinds from foreign exchange. Shares rose 2.6%.
Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) jumped 23% after the aircraft components maker said its key customer, Boeing (BA), agreed to help it through its production problems.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), the trucking and logistics company, reported third-quarter earnings that fell from a year earlier and missed expectations amid weaker freight demand. Revenue of $3.16 billion was down 18% from a year earlier. The stock declined 8.9%.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) rose 3.7% after the healthcare products company reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and boosted profit guidance for the full year.
Nasdaq (NDAQ) rose 4% after the holding company of the Nasdaq exchange topped third-quarter profit estimates.
Albemarle (ALB) was down 9.8% after the lithium miner was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities.
Ardelyx (ARDX) rose 13% after the biopharmaceutical company received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its kidney disease drug Xphozah. The company’s application for approval of the treatment previously was rejected by the FDA in July 2021.
ASML (ASML), the Amsterdam-listed semiconductor company, reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings but said it expects revenue in 2024 similar to 2023 as “customers continue to be uncertain about the shape of the demand recovery in the industry.” ASML shares traded in the U.S. declined 4.2%.
Nvidia (NVDA) declined for a second day, falling 4%, after slumping 4.7% on Tuesday following an announcement from the Biden administration that it would be tightening its restriction on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China. Analysts were cautious on the long term, since China accounts for about 20% of revenue flowing to Nvidia’s data center business, which encompasses much of its dominance in AI.
Winnebago Industries (WGO) fell 3.2% after fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $771 million from the recreational-vehicle maker missed analysts’ forecasts.
Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) declined 4.1%. The electronic brokerage posted third-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that beat estimates and said customer accounts rose 21% to 2.43 million.
Market News
Tesla Slightly Misses Estimates on Margin, Sticks to Production Goal
Tesla's third-quarter gross margin shrank from a year earlier, slightly missing Wall Street estimates, as the electric automaker slashed prices to boost demand in the face of higher interest rates.
Tesla stock drops 4.24% in after-hours trading.
But the company on Wednesday stuck to its annual production target of 1.8 million vehicles, suggesting the discounts were driving demand. Some analysts said Tesla may need to cut prices further to achieve its annual delivery target amid a broader slowdown in electric vehicle demand.
Netflix Jumps 12% After Surge in Third Quarter Subscribers
Netflix raised subscription prices for some of its streaming plans in the United States, Britain and France on Wednesday as it shattered new customer expectations, sending its shares soaring 12.4%.
The company picked up nearly 9 million new customers around the globe, surpassing the 6 million consensus forecast of Wall Street analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Netflix credited the gains to its crackdown on password-sharing and a steady flow of new programming such as global hit "One Piece."
The company raised the U.S. price of the premium ad-free plan by $3 per month to $22.99. The one-stream basic plan rose by $2 per month.
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