P&G Drags Down the Dow — Wednesday’s IP Market Recap

by Marc Bastow | April 24, 2013 5:02 pm

[1]Stocks ended the day mixed, with earnings weakness and the biggest decline in U.S. durable goods since last August holding the market back from gains.

The Dow suffered a loss of 0.29%, closing at 14,676.30 as components Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG[2], -5.88%) and AT&T (NYSE:T[3], -5.03%) slumped on a guidance cut and slowing sales, respectively.

The S&P 500 was flat, while the Nasdaq managed to finish the day ahead fractionally, closing at 1,578.79 and at 3,269.65, respectively.

Solar stocks were big winners on the day, as First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR[4]) ran up an S&P 500-best 12% on news it set a new world record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) module conversion efficiency (a good thing). FSLR led the entire industry ahead, as shares of JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS[5], +15.34%) and  SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR[6], +10.45%) moved ahead on the day.

Boeing (NYSE:BA[7]) was another big gainer in the Dow, moving ahead 3%. The company reporting increased profit [8]despite a revenue hit due to the grounding of its Dreamliner fleet in the first quarter.

Auto maker Ford (NYSE:F[9]) reported stronger sales[10] during the quarter on a rise in North American units sold and earnings beat expectations. The news wasn’t enough to move the stock ahead however. Plus, Toyota (NYSE:TM[11]) sold the most vehicles world-wide[12] during the quarter.

Cellulose-based products manufacturer Buckeye Technologies (NYSE:BKI[13]) soared over 26% late in the afternoon after announcing it will be acquired by privately held Georgia-Pacific LLC.

Fast-food restaurant operator Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM[14]) moved ahead over 7% after reporting earnings that topped Street expectations. On the other side of the coin, Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA[15]) lost nearly double digits after the bell. The gaming company posted better-than-expected earnings but had a week outlook.

Notable earnings releases for Thursday include Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN[16]), 3M (NYSE:MMM[17]), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL[18]) and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM[19]).

Three Up

• Supervalu (NYSE:SVU[20]): Up 12.13% (65 cents) to $6.01
• Lumber Liquidators (NYSE:LL[21]): Up 11.62% ($8.19) to $78.68
• Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM[22]): Up 6.38% ($2.10) to $35.08 (Read more here[23].)

Three Down

• Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR[24]): Down 9.62% ($1.67) to $15.69
• Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN[25]): Down 6.94% ($7.83) to $104.93
• VMware (NYSE:VMW[26]): Down 5.90% ($4.47) to $71.23

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

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/04/wednesdays-ip-market-recap-t-pg-fslr-spwr-ba-f-tm/

---