Stock Market Today: Dow Outperforms After Blowout UnitedHealth Earnings
The major market indexes failed to make big moves despite a solid start to second-quarter earnings season.


Stocks made modest moves Friday as Wall Street weighed the start of second-quarter earnings season.
Higher-than-expected profits for JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) failed to catapult the financial stocks higher, though the same can't be said for insurance giant UnitedHealth Group (UNH), which rallied hard in the wake of its results.
Taking a closer look at some of the numbers, JPMorgan said earnings jumped 58% year-over-year to $4.37 a share, while revenue was up 34% to $42.4 billion thanks to higher interest rates and impressive loan growth. Net income attributable to the bank's May purchase of embattled regional lender First Republic was $2.4 billion.

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.
Higher interest rates and loan growth helped Wells Fargo report a 20.5% year-over-year jump in its top line to $20.5 billion, while earnings surged 66.7% to $1.25 per share.
"The bottom-line impact here is that the overall health of the banking system is better than feared, at least for the largest banks in the system," says Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management. One major area of pushback against the Fed is that higher rates will cause more banks to fail, but after this morning's results, it seems less likely to happen, Mulberry notes, adding that if strong results from banks continue, "there will be much less worry if the Fed needs to raise rates again in September."
UnitedHealth earnings impress
Despite the impressive results, JPM managed a 0.6% gain, while WFC slipped 0.3%. UnitedHealth Group, on the other hand, popped 7.2% after earnings, easily making it the best Dow stock today. The insurance company reported higher-than-expected Q2 earnings of $6.14 per share and revenue of $92.9 billion, and lifted its full-year forecast.
At more than $480 a share, UNH has the greatest weighting of all 30 stocks in the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average, which helped it finish up 0.3% at 34,509. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 (-0.1% at 4,505) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (-0.2% at 14,113) suffered modest losses. Still, all three benchmarks closed higher on the week.
Netflix, Tesla earnings on deck
Today's handful of earnings reports kicks off what will be a busy few weeks of corporate results. Expectations are low as companies have been "battling headwinds beginning with persistent inflation, which has led to the Fed's 16-month-long series of interest rate increases and a decline in consumer demand," says Anthony Denier, CEO of Webull, a commission-free trading platform.
Analysts expect Q2 earnings to fall 7.2% from a year ago, Denier adds, which would mark the third consecutive decline in quarterly earnings and the steepest pullback since the second quarter of 2020. But on a positive note, low expectations create a low bar for companies to clear, which could result in upside surprises, the CEO notes.
Earnings from financial firms will remain in focus next week, but results from several other sectors, including communication services and consumer discretionary, will start to filter in as well. Among the key reports on next week's earnings calendar are Netflix (NFLX), Tesla (TSLA) and American Express (AXP).
Related Content
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.
-
Cord Cutting Could Help You Save Over $10,000 in 10 Years
How cutting the cord can save you money and how those savings can grow over time.
-
The '8-Year Rule of Social Security' — A Retirement Rule
The '8-Year Rule of Social Security' holds that it's best to be like Ike — Eisenhower, that is. The five-star General knew a thing or two about good timing.
-
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.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Chop as Chipmakers Decline
Several semiconductor stocks fell Friday on reports that the White House may consider revising license waivers for global chipmakers.
-
We Are Peter Lynch: How to Invest in What You Know
Take a look around, go to a free stock market data website, and get to work.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise on Less Deadly Concerns
Markets are forward-looking mechanisms, and it's good when price action shows there's a future to look forward to.
-
Stock Market Today: Wall Street Is Standing By
The waiting is the hardest part with trade war truce talks underway and inflation data on the way.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Stable as Inflation, Tariff Fears Ebb
Constructive trade war talks and improving consumer expectations are a healthy combination for financial markets.
-
Stock Market Today: Good Feelings and Solid Data Lift Stocks
Resilience and de-escalation defined another generally positive day for financial markets.