S&P 500 rises slightly after latest earnings deluge: Live updates – CNBC

Shares of Comcast hit their lowest level in more than two years on Thursday after the telecom giant’s fourth-quarter report showed the company losing broadband subscribers at a faster-than-projected pace.

“Net broadband subscriber additions were negative-139,000 in the fourth quarter, which is disappointing and worse than what we indicated in the fourth quarter,” Comcast president Michael Cavanagh said on a conference call Thursday.

Company executives said they’d be putting more emphasis on the mobile wireless business going forward.

Comcast stock fell to its lowest level since 2022 on Thursday.

Shares were last down 9.5% on the session at $33.80. Comcast’s stock price has not been that low since 2022.

— Jesse Pound

Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and NBC News.

The AI sell-off on Monday dragged down nuclear stocks as well, but the slide for that group was “unwarranted,” according to BCA Research strategist Jeremie Peloso.

“AI will continue to support future nuclear energy demand. The long-term bullish case for nuclear energy remains intact. Investors should view the recent pullback as a buying opportunity, especially for uranium mining stocks,” Peloso wrote in a note to clients.

The Range Nuclear Renaissance ETF (NUKZ) enters Thursday down 10.6% for the week, as is Cameco. Shares of Nuscale Power are down more than 21%.

Nuclear and uranium stocks got a boost from the AI trade in 2024, with the idea behind that power-hungry data centers will spur expansions to the U.S. energy grid.

— Jesse Pound

Stocks opened higher on Thursday, after ending Wednesday’s trading session lower across the board.

The S&P 500 added 0.3%, as did the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded fractionally higher.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.

Microsoft — Shares of the software giant dropped around 4% a day after it issued lighter-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter. Microsoft called for revenue of $67.7 billion to $68.7 billion in the fiscal third quarter, while analysts estimated $69.78 billion, according to LSEG. Meanwhile, fiscal second-quarter results came above consensus expectations. 

Caterpillar — The equipment manufacturer shed 4% after posting fourth-quarter revenue of $16.22 billion, under the consensus estimate of $16.39 billion from analysts polled by LSEG. On the other hand, Caterpillar earned $5.14 per share, excluding items, which exceeded the Wall Street’s forecast of $5.02 a share.

Comcast — Shares fell more than 6% after reporting a decline in broadband and cable TV customers. Domestic broadband customers fell by 139,000, while the number of cable users slipped by 311,000. Despite the decline in subscribers, the company reported a top- and bottom-line beat in the fourth quarter. Comcast earned 96 cents per share, excluding items, on $31.92 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG estimated earnings of 86 cents per share on revenue of $31.64 billion.

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

The U.S. economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace during the final three months of 2024. Gross domestic product grew by 2.3% in the fourth quarter on an annualized basis, while economists polled by Dow Jones expected an increase of 2.5%.

To be sure, full-year GDP expanded at a solid 2.8% pace after growing by 2.9% in 2023.

— Fred Imbert

Hot tub maker Whirlpool tumbled 11% following a fourth quarter revenue miss.

Whirlpool’s revenue for the last quarter came out to $4.14 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG had expected $4.24 billion. However, Whirlpool’s per-share earnings of $4.57 exceeded the estimated $4.32 per share.

The company estimated that its full-year adjusted earnings would come out to approximately $10 per share versus the $11.60 estimate. Whirlpool’s expected full-year net sales of $15.8 billion was also lower than the expected $16.26 billion.

WHR 5D stock

Shares of Coca-Cola are poised to move higher, according to Jefferies. The firm upgraded the beverage and snack giant to buy and raised its price target to $75, suggesting 19% upside from Wednesday’s close.

“The business is in great shape,” analyst Kaumil Gajrawala wrote. “Volumes are compounding, pricing has been earned, and cash flow is about to inflect… meaningfully.”

The stock is hard to own when the dollar is strengthening, he noted. However, he expects only a 2-cent impact on earnings-per-share for 2025. Coca-Cola is set to report fourth-quarter results on Feb. 11.

“Expect Q4 to be a clearing event, bringing in a wave of investors looking for quality at a fair price,” Gajrawala said. “Fundamentals support a higher multiple.”

Shares are up about 1% so far this year.

— Michelle Fox

Shares of Cigna plummeted 10% on Thursday morning after the health insurer reported a fourth-quarter earnings miss.

For its last quarter, Cigna posted adjusted earnings of $6.64 per share, which missed the $7.82 analysts were looking for, according to LSEG. However, Cigna’s $65.65 billion revenue exceeded the $63.36 billion estimate.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Shares of Lam Research traded 6% higher on Thursday morning after the semiconductor company posted a fiscal second-quarter earnings beat.

Lam Research reported adjusted earnings 91 cents per share, above the 88 cents that analysts were looking for, per LSEG. On the other hand, the company’s revenue missed FactSet expectations. Lam Research also provided earnings and revenue guidance for its fiscal third-quarter that was higher than what analysts were currently estimating.

Following its earnings report, both Bernstein and Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded the stock to an overweight or outperform rating.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Shares of UPS were trading more than 13% lower on Thursday morning after the shipping company posted a fourth-quarter revenue miss.

UPS’ $25.30 billion revenue came in lower than the $25.42 billion analysts polled by LSEG had expected. On the other hand, the company’s adjusted earnings of $2.75 per share exceeded the $2.53 Wall Street consensus.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Engine equipment manufacturing stock Caterpillar slipped 4% in Thursday’s premarket trading hours after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings miss.

Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter came in at $16.22 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG were expecting $16.39 billion. On the other hand, the company’s earnings of $5.14 per share exceeded estimates of $5.02.

For its new guidance, Caterpillar said it also expects first-quarter 2025 and full-year 2025 sales and revenue numbers to be lower than their 2024 equivalents.

— Lisa Kailai Han

IBM shares popped 8% in the premarket after the legacy tech company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations.

The company earned $3.92 per share, excluding items, while analysts polled by LSEG anticipated a profit of $3.75 per share. Revenue for IBM came in at $17.55 billion, about in line with expectations.

“We closed the year with double-digit revenue growth in Software for the quarter, led by further acceleration in Red Hat. Clients globally continue to turn to IBM to transform with AI. Our generative AI book of business now stands at more than $5B inception-to-date, up nearly $2B quarter over quarter,” CEO Arvind Krishna said in a statement.

IBM jumps

UPS drops

Gold in past year

European stock markets opened broadly higher Thursday despite big-name earnings disappointing, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.4% at 8:26 a.m. in London.

Industrials and energy led sector gains, up 0.73% and 0.36%, respectively.

Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were both around 0.3% higher, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.12%.

Stoxx 600 index.

Japanese and Australian markets climbed Thursday, despite Wall Street losses overnight. Several Asia-Pacific markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 and Topix advanced for the second straight day. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.25% to end the day at 39,513.97 while the broader Topix index was up 0.23% to close at 2,781.93.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino reportedly said Thursday that the central bank would continue to raise interest rates if the “economy and prices move in line with the bank’s forecasts.” The Bank of Japan hiked interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.5% in its meeting last week, bringing them to the highest level since 2008.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 extended gains from the previous session to end the day up 0.55% at 8,493.70, its highest since Dec. 5.

India’s benchmark Nifty 50 was up 0.44%, while the BSE Sensex Index had gained 0.29% as of 1 p.m. local time.

— Amala Balakrishner

Shares of Tesla rose 4% in extended trading on Wednesday despite its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue missing Wall Street’s expectations, and Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management believes there could be more gains ahead for the stock.

“Ultimately, I think that [Tesla’s] numbers are pretty choppy,” the managing partner said on CNBC’s “Fast Money” following the automaker’s results. “It’s just hard to … see why it’s up right now. I think it’s basically confirmation that people think that this has more to go.”

Tesla reported adjusted earnings of 73 cents per share on $25.71 billion in revenue for the period. That’s below the consensus estimate of 76 cents per share and $27.27 billion in revenue, per LSEG.

TSLA, 1-day

The stock is on pace to close out the first month of 2025 in negative territory, as it’s seen month-to-date losses of more than 3%. It is also on track to underperform the broader market this week, with shares dropping more than 4% week to date.

— Sean Conlon, Lora Kolodny

Check out the stocks making big moves in extended trading:

• Meta Platforms — Shares rose about 5% after the company beat on the top and bottom lines. For the fourth quarter, Meta Platforms earned $8.02 per share on revenue of $48.39 billion, above the consensus estimate of $6.77 per share in earnings and $47.04 billion in revenue, according to LSEG. Separately, The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that President Donald Trump has signed settlement papers that would require the company to pay around $25 million in regards to a 2021 lawsuit.
• Microsoft — Shares of the software giant slid about 2%. Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing services saw growth of 31% in the fiscal second quarter, narrowly missing the consensus estimate for 31.1%, according to StreetAccount. Top- and bottom-line results surpassed Wall Street’s estimates, however.
• Tesla — Shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer rose more than 2% even after Tesla’s fourth-quarter results missed the mark. The company posted adjusted earnings of 73 cents per share on revenue of $25.71 billion. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for 76 cents in earnings per share and $27.27 billion in revenue.

Read here for the full list.

— Sean Conlon