US stocks are continuing to gain momentum as trading heads into the afternoon, with the market clearly impressed by the first wave of company earnings.
The Nasdaq is leading the charge, having jumped more than 1.6% (254 points) to 15,703, while the S&P 500 is up nearly 1.3% (63 points) to 5,074. The Dow Jones is also experiencing strong gains, jumping 0.8% (314 points) to 38,554.
While investors appear to be impressed by the first horde of company results, the next test will be seeing how the magnificent seven copes. First up is Tesla which reports after the markets close today. Shares are already up 2.2% in anticipation, but analysts are concerned the hype surrounding EVs may have been replaced by AI.
Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank (ETR: DBKGn ) said: “Three years ago EVs, and Tesla in particular, were expected to take over the world. Competition has been intense in the sector (especially from China), demand disappointing in some regions, and the European Commission is investigating the sector.
“Over the last 12-18 months AI has emerged and taken over as the overwhelmingly dominant tech darling of markets.”
Reid explained that while many remain bullish about AI’s prospects it remains “almost impossible to understand how to value” companies within the sector. He warned that although AI may go down a different route to EVs, it is important to be aware of the route the EV industry went down.
US stocks are holding onto this morning’s gains as investors continue to welcome a wave of strong company earnings. The Dow Jones slipped back slightly but remains up around 183 points at 38,423. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have gained 51 and 217 points respectively.
One stock pushing higher is General Motors, which lifted close to 4.5% after beat guidance and raising its full-year estimates. With the group currently undergoing a turnaround strategy, analysts have welcomed the results arguing today’s results signify an important step.
“This was a major ‘prove me’ quarter for GM and shows the long-awaited turnaround now appears to be underway,” Wedbush said.
Elsewhere, new house sales data revealed the market accelerated faster than expected in March. Single-family home sales surged 693,000 in the month, beating out February’s 637,000 and driving ahead of Dow Jones guidance of 669,000.
US stocks are pushing higher as Wall Street before heading to lunch, with the beginning of a busy earnings period getting of to a good start. The Dow Jones lifted around 221 points to 38,461, while the S&P added an extra 50 points, taking it to 5,060.
Leading the charge was the Nasdaq, which rose close to 200 points to reach 15,654, representing a nearly 1.3% daily gain. While record revenues at Spotify and guidance hikes by General Motors and GE have garnered investor attention, they aren’t the only companies impressing.
In fact, around 20% of S&P 500 constituents reported earnings on Tuesday, 76% of which managed to beat Wall Street guidance. In macro news, flash PMI data came in lower than expected at 49.9, down from 51.9 in February and falling to the lowest point in 2024.
“Companies responded by scaling back employment for the first time in almost four years, with business confidence also waning to the lowest since last November,” the report said.
Wall Street enjoyed a positive start on Tuesday, as the Nasdaq added 72 points to reach 15,524, followed by 65 and 19-point gains by the Dow Jones and S&P 500 respectively.
A busy day of earnings had plenty of companies moving early on, including Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT), which was up 13.9% in early trading after unveiling a jump in revenue on subscriber growth over the first quarter.
Respective hikes to full-year guidance in their updates saw General Electric Co (NYSE:NYSE: GE ) and General Motors Company (NYSE: GM ) also racked up 4% gains early on. Among others, Danaher Corp (NYSE: DHR ) notched up gains of 6.7%, while Kimberly-Clark Corp (NYSE:NYSE: KMB , ETR:KMY) climbed 5.6%, as each outdid expectations in updates.
Earnings misses had Msci Inc and LKQ Corp (NASDAQ:LKQ) among the day’s biggest losers in the meantime, as each fell 10.2% and 9.8% respectively.
Futures trading had the markets opening higher on a busy day of earnings on Wall Street. The Dow Jones was up 62 points at 38,530 in pre-market trading, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 climbed 47 and 11 points respectively to 17,397 and 5,058.
Spotify was among pre-market movers, up 8.4%, after kicking off a busy day of earnings with a report showing a 20% increase in revenue to €3.6 billion on subscriber growth. General Motors Co was up by 3.5% in the meantime, after beating first-quarter expectations and raising guidance in an update on Monday evening.
Also climbing on an earnings beat was General Electric Co (NYSE:GE), by 5.2%, while PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP ) Inc (NASDAQ:PEP, ETR:PEP) fell following its report. Also reporting on Tuesday was Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE:NYSE: PM , ETR:4I1) and Visa Inc (NYSE:NYSE: V , ETR:3V64), with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA )’s much-anticipated update expected after the market closes.
“It is safe to say that expectations are now low,” eToro analyst Sam North commented ahead of the results, highlighting repeated price cuts recently to stimulate demand. “Whilst it’s not quite make-or-break territory for Elon Musk’s company, it does feel like a monumental report.”
