Kindle Keeps the Markets on Fire — Friday’s IP Market Recap

by Marc Bastow | April 27, 2012 5:02 pm

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN[1]) came rocketing out of the gate today and finished up more than 15% on the heels of Thursday night’s blockbuster earnings[2] release, and the broader markets fended off disappointing economic news [3]and a downgrade of Spanish debt to end the week on a winning note.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.19% at 13,229 and the S&P 500 gained 0.24% to 1,403, marking the fourth day in a row of increases for both. The Nasdaq ended up 0.61% to 3,069.

The Dow’s gains came amid sell-offs in Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG[4]) and Ford (NYSE:F[5]) after each reported significant earnings declines.

P&G announced that third-quarter earnings dropped by 16%[6] because of higher costs for raw materials and restructuring costs, and reduced 2012 guidance due to volume declines in several markets. While Procter & Gamble beat out EPS estimates by a cent, shares traded down 3.6% to $64.44. Meanwhile, Ford reported a 45% plunge in quarterly profit[7] because of losses in Europe and a slight dip in sales. The automaker also managed to beat expectations, but the stock slid early and finished down 2.3% to $11.6%.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE:GT[8]) also was punished[9] by 5% after its first earnings loss.

On the positive side of the spectrum, travel site Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE[10]) rode growth in its Hotels.com unit to crush revenue and EPS expectations. Revenues of $816.5 million were higher than the estimates of $790.1 million, and adjusted EPS of 26 cents exceeded 14-cent-per-share estimates. Investors rewarded EXPE with a 24% run-up.

Also Friday, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ[11]) joined a host of blue chips to recently announce a dividend hike[12], upping its payout by 7% to 61 cents per share — good for a hefty 3.7% yield on current prices.

Three Up

• Fortune Brands (NYSE:FBHS[13]): Up 9% ($1.86) to $22.50.
• Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI[14]): Up 7.6% (68 cents) to $10.18.
• Tripadvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP[15]): Up 7.5% ($2.59) to $36.97.

Three Down

• Western Digital (NYSE:WDC[16]): Down 14.1% ($6.22) to $37.88.
• Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA[17]): Down 9.5% (89 cents) to $8.53. (Read more about Zynga here.[18])
• Seagate (NASDAQ:STX[19]): Down 4.8% ($1.51) to $29.58.

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing he is long JNJ

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/04/amazon-earnings-friday-market-recap-amzn-expe-pg-f-jnj/

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