(New York) The New York Stock Exchange is moving in a disorganized manner on Tuesday, taking a break after records the day before, ready to digest an avalanche of company results.
The Dow Jones index fell 0.24%, after a second peak in a row on Monday. The technology-dominated NASDAQ gained 0.18% and the S&P 500 +0.07% around 10:15 a.m. (Eastern time).
The day before, a new historic high was reached by the Dow Jones (+0.36%) just above 38,000 points for the first time at 38,001.81 points.
The NASDAQ advanced 0.32% to 15,360.29 points. And the S&P 500, which had surpassed a two-year record on Friday, had further progressed on Monday to 4850.43 points (+0.22%).
“Things are calming down this morning, but we can’t say this will become a cold front right after the heat wave,” commented Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
“There has been a flood of blue-chip company results that have received mixed reactions,” he noted.
Thus 3M (-9.81%), Lockheed Martin (-1.11%), General Electric (-0.29%) were among the losers.
Verizon (+4.88%), United Airlines (+6.46%) and Procter and Gamble (+5.02%) were well received after their announcements.
The 3 conglomerate was disappointed by its weak growth forecasts for 2024 despite an increasing quarterly profit.
Over the year 2023, the group is in a loss of nearly $7 billion, which includes the cost of an agreement of some $6 billion to settle lawsuits related to ineffective earplugs intended for the military and manufactured by its subsidiary Aearo Technologies.
General Electric (GE) was shunned after publishing a declining net profit, although better than expected for the fourth quarter of 2023, but disappointing forecasts. Net profit came to $1.59 billion, down 28% year-on-year.
The former American industrial giant is engaged in a major restructuring, which will result in the split into three separate entities, all listed on the stock exchange. The one currently listed under the GE name will bring together the aeronautical divisions.
United Airlines (UAL) was soaring after posting better-than-projected sales in the final quarter of 2023 at $13.6 billion.
UAL, however, expects a loss in the first quarter due to grounded Boeing 737 MAX 9s, after an incident in early January on an Alaska Airlines flight.
The consumer products group Procter & Gamble (P&G) published declining results from October to December, due to a massive depreciation linked to its takeover of the razor manufacturer Gillette. But these results were nevertheless better than expected and action was sought.
In this second quarter of its staggered financial year, the group recorded a turnover of $21.4 billion (+3%), supported by the price increases practiced, which compensated for lackluster volumes.
As for the American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J & J), it saw its shares lose 2.78% despite having confirmed its forecasts for the current financial year, after having experienced a fourth quarter of 2023 in line with market expectations.
The group therefore continues to expect growth of 5% to 6% in its organic turnover for 2024, which would bring it to a range of $88.2 to $89 billion.
But the action was weighed down by a pre-agreement worth $700 million that the group is preparing to sign, according to press information, to settle lawsuits linked to its talc accused of being carcinogenic.
The star of the day remained the announcement of Netflix’s quarterly results (+0.19%) awaited after the close.
“Wall Street is optimistic that the streaming giant will be able to exceed its subscriber growth forecasts,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.
The analyst recalls that these announcements come as Scott Stuber, the head of Netflix’s cinema department since 2017, is preparing to leave the group in March to create his own media company.