Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on January 22, 2024 in New York City. The Dow Jones and S&P both hit all time highs with the Dow Jones closing over 38,000 points for the first time ever as stocks continue to rise.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Stocks rose Wednesday after Netflix reported its subscriber count reached a new record in the fourth quarter.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 35 points higher, or 0.1%.
Netflix shares surged 13% after the streamer said its total subscriber count hit an all-time high of 260.8 million. Revenue topped analysts’ estimates, as did current-quarter earnings guidance.
The earnings report “is a pretty decent tailwind,” said Charlie Ripley, senior strategist at Allianz Investment Management. More broadly, “people thought things were fairly balanced, or maybe even positioning for more downside risks, as growth in the economy or activity in the economy continues to decline. But what we’ve kind of seen is things have been more resilient.”
The streaming giant’s gains build upon mega-cap tech’s strong gains in 2024, which have propelled the S&P 500 to record highs and confirmed a new bull market.
Beyond Netflix, AT&T slipped more than 2% on lower-than-expected earnings. Dupont De Nemours tumbled 13% after preannouncing weak fourth-quarter results and issuing disappointing first-quarter guidance.
Those moves come after the Dow pulled back during Tuesday’s trading session as investors tracked disappointing earnings reports and guidance from several blue-chip companies. Still, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed, pushing the former to a fresh all-time closing record.
Earnings reports will remain a focus of traders, with Tesla, Las Vegas Sands and IBM due after the bell. Of the more than 16% of S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly financials thus far in the earnings season, over 71% have surpassed Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet.
On the economic front, traders will be looking toward data on fourth quarter gross domestic product and the closely watched personal consumption expenditures price index expected later in the week.