Stocks rose higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posting their best week since November, as blockbuster Big Tech earnings uplifted the broader market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 150 points, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1% and 2%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.02% or +51.54 points to 5,099.96
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.40% or +153.86 points to 38,239.66
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +2.03% or +316.14 points to 15,927.90
For the Week:
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended the week with their highest 5-day growth since November, rising 2.7% and 4.2%, respectively. The Dow also advanced 0.7% to end the week in the green.
On the Earnings Front:
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings after market close on Thursday, with the tech giant reporting its fastest quarterly revenue growth since 2022.
"Our leadership in AI research and infrastructure, and our global product footprint, position us well for the next wave of AI innovation," CEO Sundar Pichai said in the company's earnings release.
The company's board also approved its first cash dividend of $0.20 per share to be paid on June 17 to shareholders of record as of June 10. The Google-parent's board also authorized the repurchase of $70 billion in shares "in a matter deemed in the best interest of the company and its stockholders."
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) also reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results late Thursday, but issued soft revenue guidance, with CFO Amy Hood expcing $64 billion in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue -- slightly below estimates. "Currently, near-term AI demand is a bit higher than our available capacity," Hood said during the company's earnings call.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) also delivered strong first-quarter earnings, but saw some quarterly sales weakness and issued light forward guidance for its second-quarter. The semiconductor giant expects Q2 earnings of $0.10 per share on revenue of $13 billion at its midpoint.
"We are one of two, maybe three, companies in the world that can continue to enable next-generation chip technologies," CEO Pat Gelsinger told investors during the company's earnings call.
Snap (NYSE: SNAP) reported first-quarter results that topped expectations, with its revenue growth being driven by improvements in its ad platform. The social media company's ad revenue came in at $1.11 billion for the quarter. "I think more broadly, we saw a much more robust brand environment, which played out in all of our regions in Q1," said CFO Derek Anderson during the company's earnings call.
"Given the progress we have made with our ad platform, the leadership team we have built, and the strategic priorities we have set, we believe we are well positioned to continue to improve our business performance," Snap wrote in its letter to investors released on Thursday.
Oil giants Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) both reported disappointing earnings on Friday as the industry was impacted by declining natural gas prices. Natural gas prices have declined 37% this year, according to CNBC.
In Economic News:
March's inflationary pressures remained high, the Commerce Department reported Friday, as market participants looked for more clues on the Federal Reserve's next decision on interest rates. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.7% from a year ago and 0.3% month-over-month, coming in above estimates. Excluding food and energy prices, core-PCE increased 2.8% annually and 0.3% over February, also coming in above expectations.
Consumer sentiment dipped 2.2 points to 77.2 in April's final reading, the University of Michigan reported on Friday, with the reading coming in slightly below estimates as long-term inflation expectations ticked higher.
"Since January, sentiment has remained remarkably stable within a very narrow 2.5 index point range, well under the 4.8 points necessary for a statistically significant difference in readings," said Joanne Hsu, director of Surveys of Consumers in a statement. "Consumers continue to express uncertainty about the future trajectory of the economy pending the outcomes of the upcoming election, but at this time there is no evidence that global geopolitical factors are on the forefront of consumers' minds.
Looking Ahead:
Market participants are gearing up for the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy decision on Wednesday, as well as another full week of earnings, inflation and labor market data. The week's earnings reports include Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), AMD (NASDAQ: AMD), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), Coca Cola (NYSE: KO), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Apple (NYSE: AAPL).