Wall Street closed higher Wednesday as gains for most stocks outweighed drops for Alphabet and some other big-name companies following their latest profit reports.
- The S&P 500 rose 23.60 points, or 0.4%, to 6,061.48.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 317.24 points, or 0.7%, to 44,873.28.
- The Nasdaq composite climbed 38.31 points, or 0.2%, to 19,692.33.
Toymaker Mattel jumped 15.3% after blowing past analysts' forecasts for profit in the latest quarter, the
AP reports. Strength for its Hot Wheels brand helped make up for some softness for Barbie and other dolls. Mattel also gave a forecast for profit this upcoming year that topped analysts' expectations
Amgen rallied 6.5% and was one of the strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500. it reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected, thanks in part to growth for its Repatha medicine, which can lower bad cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack. They helped offset an 7.3% drop for Alphabet, which sank even though Google's parent company reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on slowing growth for its cloud business, whose revenue fell short of forecasts. They also homed in on the $75 billion Alphabet is budgeting for investments this year, roughly $15 billion more than analysts expected, as it remains in the rush to develop AI technology.
Advanced Micro Devices fell 6.3% even though the chip company edged past profit expectations for the latest quarter. While analysts called AMD's results solid, they also asked why CEO Lisa Su did not give more detail about expectations for the performance of its AI offerings specifically.
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Yields in the bond market fell after a report said growth for mining, finance and other US services businesses was weaker last month than economists expected. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management found many businesses citing poor weather conditions. Many businesses also "mentioned preparations or concerns related to potential US government tariff actions; however, there was little mention of current business impacts as a result," according to Steve Miller, chair of the ISM's Services Business Survey Committee.
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