The markets were strong today, and mostly supported by two names. The Dow 30 added 84, while the S&P 500 added 13, supported by the banking sector where Goldman Sachs reported an earnings beat. The Nasdaq 100 was the big winner of the day gaining 44. This came as Netflix reported a much better than expected earnings release. Tomorrow we continue to focus on earnings from names like Intel (INTC ), Ebay, Inc. (EBAY ), and American Express (AXP ). The Fed's beige book is also due out in the afternoon.
Netflix (NFLX )stole the medias attention today, and rightfully so. Shares blasted off 19.03% after the company announced earnings on Monday after the close that far surpassed Wall Street expectations. Revenue also beat estimates as well but the focus was on the 3.2 million international customers that NFLX added during the quarter. This was way more than the 2 million it had forecast. This number was important as analysts have been concerned that Netflix had expended too fast. Even tough U.S. subscriber growth is slowing, the international numbers helped investors forgive this. The increased subscribers came even as Netflix raised prices and faced even more competition. The company's US subscriber growth topped estimates by a whopping 20% in the third quarter.
Goldman Sachs (GS ) also enjoyed a nice 2.15% gain today which helped boost the overall markets. The Wall Street bank announced better than expected earnings and revenue for its quarter ending September 30th. Profit was the major focus as it was up almost 58% driven largely by revenue from bond trading. Their commodities and currencies division also reported in strong, jumping 34%.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ ) was another earnings name in the press today. The company raised its profit outlook for year after delivering a beat on both its top and bottom lines for the third quarter. Revenue was up more than 4% from a year ago thanks to "strong sales of some of its blockbuster drugs and medical devices". The problem came with a miss in the consumer sales department. That sector was weaker than the street foretasted. Shares finished lower by 2.62%.
Visa (V ) announced after hours yesterday that the company's Chief Executive Charles Scharf is stepping down on December 1st after leading the payment processor for four years. Scharf said he's resigning because "he can no longer spend enough time in San Francisco to do his job effectively with his family living New York". Former American Express President Alfred Kelly will take over the CEO spot. Shares were slightly lower on the news, down 0.69%.
