Stock Market Today: Dow Bounces Back as Earnings Beats Roll On
Everything from the blue-chip Dow to the small-cap Russell 2000 both benefited from a broad recovery day as Q1 earnings continued to impress.


Wednesday maintained the same light-news, heavy-earnings pace of the past couple of days, but with a much better result that saw the major indexes close in the black.
Netflix (NFLX) was the primary focus of today's earnings slate. Its stock tanked by 7.4% after it reported disappointing subscriber growth in Q1 and predicted much of the same for Q2.
However, Michael Reinking, NYSE senior market strategist (and, get this, celebrant of National Big Word Day today), points out that "earnings remain the cynosure of investors, and, while there has been a disproportionable amount of coverage of the Netflix subs disappointment, earnings have been quite strong over the past few days."

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Indeed, Verizon (VZ, -0.4%), Halliburton (HAL, -3.6%) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW, +6.3%) were among a few dozen companies to announce Street-beating earnings over the past 24 hours alone.
Investor reactions to each of those reports varied widely, but the direction of the broader markets was unanimously up: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9% to 34,137, the S&P 500 finished 0.9% higher to 4,173, the Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.2% to 13,950 and the small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 2.4% to 2,239.
"After the defensive posturing we’ve seen in the market over the last week, some of that is reversing today," Reinking adds.
Other action in the stock market today:
- Cruise line stocks were sharply higher on Wednesday, including gains from Carnival (CCL, +X%) and Royal Caribbean (RCL, +X%). But leading the way was Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH, +X%) after Goldman Sachs analyst Stephen Grambling upgraded it to Buy. "The bottom-line is NCLH is poised to see fundamentals inflect once sailings resume," he writes, "with pent-up leisure demand driving a recovery in net yields beyond pre-pandemic levels at the same time that net cruise costs ex-fuel will be slower to bounce back."
- U.S. crude oil futures slumped 2.1% to $61.35 per barrel.
- Gold futures improved by 0.8% to $1,793.10 per ounce.
- The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) retreated by 8.1% to 17.16.
- Bitcoin prices declined 1.8% to $55.615. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.)
ESG Investments for Earth Day
Tomorrow marks the nation's 51st celebration of Earth Day, and never before has the concept behind it been so important to investors.
Environmental stewardship has become a crucial value to a swelling number of investors – it goes beyond buying shares of companies directly in the business of doing better by the environment, but ensuring that firms of all types are contributing where they can.
That's just part of a wider trend favoring investments based on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) factors. And it's more than merely a feel-good strategy; many good ESG practices go hand in hand with stronger operations.
If you want to harness these factors but don't feel like doing heavy research across hundreds of stocks, funds that select their holdings based on these criteria are abundant – we've recently explored a number of ESG ETFs that fit the bill, and this wider list of values-based funds includes picks for ETF and mutual fund investors alike.
That said, some people are most comfortable with individual companies they've come to learn and understand, like the ubiquitous blue chips of the Dow 30 – and you'll be glad to know that several of them are solid ESG citizens. According to index and analytics specialist MSCI, 10 Dow stocks are considered leaders in environmental, social and governance practices, and most of them also pass muster with Wall Street's top analysts. Check them out.
Kyle Woodley was long NCLH as of this writing.
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.
Kyle Woodley is the Editor-in-Chief of WealthUp, a site dedicated to improving the personal finances and financial literacy of people of all ages. He also writes the weekly The Weekend Tea newsletter, which covers both news and analysis about spending, saving, investing, the economy and more.
Kyle was previously the Senior Investing Editor for Kiplinger.com, and the Managing Editor for InvestorPlace.com before that. His work has appeared in several outlets, including Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Barchart, The Globe & Mail and the Nasdaq. He also has appeared as a guest on Fox Business Network and Money Radio, among other shows and podcasts, and he has been quoted in several outlets, including MarketWatch, Vice and Univision. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a BA in journalism.
You can check out his thoughts on the markets (and more) at @KyleWoodley.
-
AI-Powered Smart Glasses Set to Make a Bigger Splash
The Kiplinger Letter Meta leads the way with its sleek, fashionable smart glasses, but Apple reportedly plans to join the fray by late 2026. Improved AI will lure more customers.
-
How to Plan the Perfect Italian Dream Trip After 60
Proper preparation is everything for U.S. retirees when planning an Italy "trip of a lifetime."
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Step Back From New Highs
Investors, traders and speculators continue the low-volume summer grind against now-familiar uncertainties.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Berkshire Hathaway Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have Today
Berkshire Hathaway is a long-time market beater, but the easy money in BRK.B has already been made.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Procter & Gamble Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have Today
Procter & Gamble stock is a dependable dividend grower, but a disappointing long-term holding.
-
Stock Market Today: Another Quarter, More Mixed Price Action
"Up and to the right" remains the general trend despite persistent uncertainty around critical policy issues.
-
Are These the Next Stocks to Split?
Interactive Brokers' recently split its stock to makes its shares more accessible to investors. Could these high-priced stocks be next?
-
The Riskiest S&P 500 Stocks Right Now
Buyer beware: These are five of the riskiest stocks in the S&P 500 at the moment, based on one measure of volatility.
-
My Three-Day Rule for Investing: And If it Applies Now
Stock Market I've seen a lot in my career. Here's what I see now in the stock market.
-
Is It Time to Invest in Europe?
Stock Market Europe is being shaken out of its lethargy, militarily and otherwise, by Donald Trump's changes in U.S. policy. Should investors start buying?