Stocks looked like they were ready to extend their longest winning streak in two years Wednesday, but momentum stalled mid-morning. A lack of key economic reports on today's docket had investors focused on a number of corporate earnings reports – some that were good and some that were not so good.
Starting with the good. Energy stock Occidental Petroleum (OXY) – which is the sixth largest position in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway equity portfolio – gained 1.6% after earnings. The oil exploration and production company reported higher-than-expected third-quarter earnings and revenue, while operating cash flow came in at $3.1 billion.
Separately, Occidental unveiled a new joint venture with BlackRock (BLK, 1.0%) intended to develop STRATOS, the biggest direct air capture plant in the world. "DAC is a technology that captures and removes large volumes of CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, which can be safely and securely stored deep underground in geologic formations," stated in the press release.
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Roblox (RBLX) was another post-earnings winner, with the communication services stock jumping 11.9% after the gaming platform's third-quarter results. RBLX reported higher-than-anticipated bookings for its third quarter, while daily active users jumped 20% year-over-year to 70.2 million.
As for the bad, Robinhood Markets (HOOD) slumped 14.3% after earnings. While the trading platform disclosed a narrower-than-expected third-quarter loss, revenue of $467 million fell short of what analysts were expecting. This was due in part to a 55% drop in crypto trading revenue, while equities trading revenue was down 13% for the three-month period.
Lumen Technologies CEO buys 1 million shares
In non-earnings news, Lumen Technologies (LUMN), the communications company formerly known as CenturyLink, continued to rebound after bottoming out below the $1 per-share mark on November 1. The penny stock was up more than 6% at its intraday high, before settling flat. LUMN is still up more than 33% in the past five trading sessions due in part to news that CEO Kate Johnson last week bought 1 million LUMN shares for $970,000.
"I believe deeply in our strategy, our mission, the team that we've built and our progress so far, and so I went long in the stock," Johnson said, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. "My husband and I decided that this is the right thing to do, and I think it expresses my deep confidence in our business."
As for the major indexes, the Nasdaq Composite ended 0.08% at 13,650, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.1% to 4,382, both extending their longest winning streaks since 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, on the other hand, gave back 0.1% to 34,112.
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