Stocks remained near a flatline into Wednesday's close as investors digested another large batch of corporate earnings reports. The Nasdaq Composite underperformed, falling about 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average settled slightly above a flatline and the S&P 500 Index closed slightly below.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.02% or -0.73 points to 4,016.22
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.03% or +9.88 points to 33,743.84
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.18% or -20.92 points to 11,313.36
Technology stocks were in the spotlight on Wednesday after lackluster earnings guidance from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) further fueled concerns for the health of the sector. CEO Satya Nadella told analysts in a post-earnings conference call that the company saw a decline in business at the end of 2022 in core Windows and Office areas.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) shares settled slightly higher after falling as much as 4% earlier in the session after the aerospace company's fourth-quarter earnings fell short of both top and bottom line estimates due to labor and supply shortages.
Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) shares fell 1% after the chipmaker posted its worst sales decline since 2020, which weighed on the semiconductor sector. The company's revenue fell to $4.17 billion from $4.53 billion in the final quarter of 2023.
Still, JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) reiterated its Overweight rating on TXN on Wednesday, saying that the company will maintain its standing as a market leader despite current headwinds.
"Despite a difficult environment this year (slowing demand along with GM cost/depreciation headwinds) for Texas Instruments, the team continues to execute well and maintain strong earnings power even with weaker fundamentals," said JPM Executive Director Harlan Sur, quoted by CNBC.
Elsewhere, shares of Fox Corp. (NASDAQ: FOXA) and News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) rose on Wednesday after media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced late Tuesday that the media companies have canceled their planned merger.
Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) shares fell over 2% on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Justice filed its second antitrust lawsuit against the search engine giant in just over two years on Tuesday.
Looking ahead, investors will weigh quarterly earnings from Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) after closing bell.