Stock Market Wrapup April 18th
The Dow Jones Industrial Average chugged along to another record close, topping the mark it last set in February, but the market overall traded mixed. Declining stocks edged advancing issues on both the NYSE and Nasdaq markets. A weak report from Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) after Tuesday's closing bell helped to weigh on the tech sector, as did a loss reported before today's open by Motorola (NYSE: MOT). Crude oil futures edged up slightly, while the 10-year Treasury note pushed higher, shaving the yield.
The Dow's advance was fueled by solid gains by Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Boeing (NYSE: BA), andJ.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), which reported a 55% increase in Q1 earnings on a 25% increase in revenue today. J.P. Morgan reported a profit of $4.8 billion, or $1.34 a share, against $3.1 billion, or 86 cents a share, last year. The current quarter included an 11-cent gain that resulted from an accounting change. The bank credited reduced volatility and improved profits in its trading operations, as well as record results from its asset management and commercial banking divisions.
In the tech sector, Yahoo's report of an -11% decline in its Q1 profit disappointed investors who were expecting more of an impact from its revised search advertising platform known as Panama. The stock declined -11.8% in today's trading. Subscribers can read our detailed analysis of Yahoo's results in today's issue.. Motorola swung to a Q1 loss as continued weakness in its once-booming mobile phone business weighed on results. Motorola said it expects its handset business to return to profitability by the second half of the year, but many analysts expressed doubt that this would happen.
Not all of the reports coming out of the tech sector were disappointing. The profit report from semiconductor bellwether Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) pleased investors that feared the company's market share battle with Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) would cut further into profit margins. Intel, however, reported that its much-watched gross margin came in better than forecasted for Q1, leading the company to predict an increase in profitability in the second half of the year. The company reported earnings of 27 cents a share against 23 cents a share in the same period last year.
In other earnings news, shares of movie rental company Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) sank -9.4% as the company's improved Q1 results still fell short of analyst forecasts. The company earned $9.9 million, or 14 cents a share, against $4.4 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts were looking for EPS of 16 cents, according to Thompson Financial.
The tanker sector moved higher after Teekay Shipping (NYSE: TK) announced late Tuesday that it would join with Danish shipping concern A/S Dampskibsselskabet TORM (Nasdaq: TRMD) to buy oil-tanker operator OMI (NYSE: OMM) for $1.8 billion in cash. Teekay's shares advanced 7.2% today on the news. Other shipping concerns were up in today's action as well, including Overseas Shipholding Group (NYSE: OSG), which added 10.3%.
By the BullMarket.com Staff
The Dow's advance was fueled by solid gains by Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Boeing (NYSE: BA), andJ.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), which reported a 55% increase in Q1 earnings on a 25% increase in revenue today. J.P. Morgan reported a profit of $4.8 billion, or $1.34 a share, against $3.1 billion, or 86 cents a share, last year. The current quarter included an 11-cent gain that resulted from an accounting change. The bank credited reduced volatility and improved profits in its trading operations, as well as record results from its asset management and commercial banking divisions.
In the tech sector, Yahoo's report of an -11% decline in its Q1 profit disappointed investors who were expecting more of an impact from its revised search advertising platform known as Panama. The stock declined -11.8% in today's trading. Subscribers can read our detailed analysis of Yahoo's results in today's issue.. Motorola swung to a Q1 loss as continued weakness in its once-booming mobile phone business weighed on results. Motorola said it expects its handset business to return to profitability by the second half of the year, but many analysts expressed doubt that this would happen.
Not all of the reports coming out of the tech sector were disappointing. The profit report from semiconductor bellwether Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) pleased investors that feared the company's market share battle with Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) would cut further into profit margins. Intel, however, reported that its much-watched gross margin came in better than forecasted for Q1, leading the company to predict an increase in profitability in the second half of the year. The company reported earnings of 27 cents a share against 23 cents a share in the same period last year.
In other earnings news, shares of movie rental company Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) sank -9.4% as the company's improved Q1 results still fell short of analyst forecasts. The company earned $9.9 million, or 14 cents a share, against $4.4 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts were looking for EPS of 16 cents, according to Thompson Financial.
The tanker sector moved higher after Teekay Shipping (NYSE: TK) announced late Tuesday that it would join with Danish shipping concern A/S Dampskibsselskabet TORM (Nasdaq: TRMD) to buy oil-tanker operator OMI (NYSE: OMM) for $1.8 billion in cash. Teekay's shares advanced 7.2% today on the news. Other shipping concerns were up in today's action as well, including Overseas Shipholding Group (NYSE: OSG), which added 10.3%.
By the BullMarket.com Staff
Labels: AMD, BA, CAT, INTC, JPM, MOT, NFLX, OMM, OSG, TK, TRMD, YHOO
posted by Stock Administrator @ 5:41 PM
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