Stock Market Today: Tech Earnings, Fed Hike Light Fire Under Stocks
Despite posting lower-than-expected quarterly results, Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) stocks soared.


Wednesday was a busy, but successful, day for stocks, with today's upside fueled by a well-received round of earnings and the latest Fed policy update.
There was no shortage of corporate updates for investors to sift through, but last night's results from Big Tech titans Alphabet (GOOGL, +7.6%) and Microsoft (MSFT, +6.7%) drew the most attention.
While Alphabet missed on both the top and bottom lines, the company did see strong growth in Google Search revenue thanks to travel and retail searches. Microsoft's fiscal fourth-quarter results also came up short, but it expects double-digit revenue and operating income growth in fiscal 2023 (on a currency adjusted basis). Both firms reported their slowest revenue growth since 2020, and pointed to a stronger dollar as a significant headwind.

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.
Also in focus today was the Federal Reserve, which, as expected, raised interest rates by 75 basis points (a basis point is one-one hundredth of a percentage point).
"With some softening of recent economic data, Fed officials likely didn't feel the pressure to go beyond market consensus with regards to the level of rate change in the policy rate," says Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management. He adds that there is plenty of time between now and the Fed's September meeting for the central bank to see if policy changes that have already been made are working. Overall, there were no surprises in today's meeting, and what happened this afternoon ultimately leaves the central bank's options open this fall, he says.
Stocks were solidly higher heading into the mid-afternoon central bank announcement, but skyrocketed following it. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.4% to 32,197 and the S&P 500 Index soared 2.6% to 4,023. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, spiked 4.1% to 12,032, its best day since April 2020.
Other news in the stock market today:
- The small-cap Russell 2000 rose 2.4% to 1,848.
- U.S. crude futures advanced 2.4% to settle at $97.26 per barrel.
- Gold futures eked out a marginal gain to end at $1,719.10 an ounce.
- Bitcoin enjoyed an 8.9% boost to $22,769.69. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
- Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) rallied 14.7% after the burrito chain reported second-quarter earnings of $9.30 per share, more than analysts were expecting. And while revenue was up 17% year-over-year for the three-month period, it came in just below the consensus estimate. CMG also said it will raise prices again in August ot counter inflation. "We believe that Chipotle has a healthy balance sheet along with robust mobile ordering and delivery platforms that will help it to recover as the economy reopens," says Argus Research analyst John Staszak (Buy). "While some consumers may be put off by Chipotle's relatively high prices, we expect its strong brand to continue to attract customers."
- Enphase Energy (ENPH, +17.9%) was another post-earnings winner. The maker of solar energy microinverters reported higher-than-expected Q2 revenue of $530 million, boosted by a 69% quarter-over-quarter spike in European sales. "Beyond energy security concerns in the European Union, we believe the electrification of both the heat and transportation markets are going to drive demand for distributed power assets as existing infrastructure struggles to keep pace," says Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch (Outperform). "We are also beginning to see the impact of inflation on delivered electricity prices, which is helping solar + storage unit economics while grid reliability has become increasingly challenged."
It's Been a Rocky Road for Airline Stocks
Red-hot inflation is not only a thorn in the Fed's side, but it – as we have witnessed time and time again – is also weighing on consumer-facing companies. Take for instance the airline industry, which is seeing higher fuel costs weigh on financial results. "Inflation is a major headache for all industries and the airline business is not immune to rising costs," says Peter McNally, global sector lead for industrials, materials and energy at research firm Third Bridge Group.
And these rising costs are creating a less profitable business environment than before the pandemic, even as "the underlying demand for air travel is strong." But, he adds, business and international travel have yet to recover at the same pace that leisure has, and these two areas could create a key source of future profits for airlines.
While there is certainly a reason to hold out hope for the industry, not all airline stocks are created equal. Here, we take a closer look at seven airline companies to see which ones are best positioned to ride out this rocky recovery.
Karee Venema was long GOOGL as of this writing.
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
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.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
Over 50 and Still Paying Student Loans? Here's Some Help
It's the club no one wants to join. But if you are over 50 and still paying student loans, there are ways to tackle both debt and retirement savings.
-
Eight Estate Planning Steps to Protect Your Loved Ones (and Your Legacy)
Two-thirds of Americans don't have an estate plan. If you're one of them, these are the essential steps to take now to prevent problems for your family later.
-
Stock Market Today: Good Feelings and Solid Data Lift Stocks
Resilience and de-escalation defined another generally positive day for financial markets.
-
Stock Market Today: Tesla Drags on Stocks Amid Musk-Trump Feud
Sentiment has soured between President Trump and his once-loyal ally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Brush Off Weak Jobs Data
The yields on the 2-year and 10-year Treasury notes fell sharply after a pair of weak economic reports.
-
Stock Market Today: Rally Extends on Good-Enough Expectations
Fiscal policy still has markets' attention, but taxes rather than tariffs and deficits rather than inflation are participants' primary focus.
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Move With Fresh Trade War Winds
The new uncertainty is the same as the old uncertainty, which is fine with investors, traders and speculators.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Bounce as US-China Tensions Escalate
Stocks were volatile to end the week and the month amid concerns a trade truce between the U.S. and China is splintering.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Chop as Judges Block Then Reinstate Tariffs
The Trump administration has asked for and received a stay in a case that seems headed for the Supreme Court.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle Ahead of Nvidia Earnings
The three main indexes closed lower as Wall Street awaited the AI bellwether's quarterly results.