Stocks have been weaker in early trading after worse than expected subscriber growth was reported by "FANG" member Netflix and following last night's report from the WSJ that trade talks have "stalled" as the U.S. figures out what it will do about Chinese tech giant Huawei.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims rose 8,000 to 216,000 in the week ended July 13. The Philly Fed index bounced 21.5 points to 21.8 in July, which was much better than expected. The leading economic indicator index fell 0.3% to 111.5 in June, which was its first decline since December.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Netflix (NFLX) are down 11% after the streaming giant reported disappointing quarterly results, with second quarter net subscriber additions missing the estimates of the company and of Wall Street. While several analysts cut their price targets on the shares following the news, there were no cuts to their ratings on the stock as the consensus opinion is that subscriber growth should return to normal in the second half of the year given the company's stronger upcoming content slate.
IBM (IBM) is the top performer on the Dow, rising 4% after its earnings report. Nomura Instinet analyst Jeffrey Kvaal said sales upside in the highest margin segments and a "solid" earnings beat in Q2 lifted visibility into the company's full-year guidance. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth (UNH) is the laggard on the blue chip index, sliding 2.5%. The health insurer reported better than expected earnings and revenue in the second quarter, but its CFO said during the associated conference cal that its FY19 revenue may miss prior guidance.
Among other large-cap companies reporting earnings last night and this morning, risers include Philip Morris (PM), Union Pacific (UNP) and Honeywell (HON), while decliners include SAP (SAP) and Genuine Parts (GPC).
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the other noteworthy gainers after reporting quarterly results were eBay (EBAY) and Ally Financial (ALLY), which gained 3% and 5%, respectively.
Among the notable losers was Adtran (ADTN), which slid 22% after reporting preliminary Q2 results and providing downbeat guidance for Q3. Also lower after reporting quarterly results was Limelight Networks (LLNW), which fell 8%.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 100.27, or 0.37%, to 27,119.58 , the Nasdaq was down 34.97, or 0.43%, to 8,150.24 , and the S&P 500 was down 5.82, or 0.20%, to 2,978.60.
Netflix
-40.36 (-11.13%)
IBM
+5.43 (+3.80%)
UnitedHealth
-8.06 (-3.02%)
Philip Morris
+6.35 (+7.83%)
eBay
+0.885 (+2.27%)
Union Pacific
+7.35 (+4.48%)
Adtran
-3.56 (-22.47%)
Ticker changed to EGIO
-0.23 (-8.30%)
Honeywell
+2.89 (+1.71%)
Ally Financial
+1.57 (+4.99%)