Key Takeaways
- U.S. equities rose at midday, as earnings results from Alphabet helped drive tech stocks higher.
- Snap’s artificial intelligence and augmented reality technologies boosted the social media company’s results.
- Super Micro Computer’s auditor quit over accounting and other concerns, sending shares plummeting.
U.S. equities were higher at midday Wednesday as strong earnings from Alphabet (GOOGL) boosted tech shares and helped the Nasdaq add to its record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were up as well.
Alphabet shares rose to their highest level since the summer after the Google parent reported strong cloud revenue.
Garmin (GRMN) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the navigation and communication equipment firm posted better-than-expected results and raised its outlook as it sees momentum going into the key holiday shopping season.
Shares of Snap (SNAP) took off after the owner of the Snapchat social media site beat profit and sales forecasts and announced a stock buyback as its users embraced its artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) technologies.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares cratered when its auditor resigned, citing concerns about the server maker’s accounting practices, internal controls, and board independence.
Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) dipped as the drug giant missed earnings and revenue estimates and slashed its guidance on slowing sales of its blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes treatments.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares sank when the chipmaker gave weaker-than-anticipated guidance, raising worries about a possible slowdown in its AI semiconductor business.
Oil and gold futures advanced. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed. The U.S. dollar gained on the pound, but lost ground to the euro and yen. Prices for most major cryptocurrencies were mixed.