Stocks ended mixed Thursday afternoon with the Dow and the S&P 500 both in retreat, while the Nasdaq turned positive. Dow component 3M (MMM - Get Report) fell sharply following an earnings miss and guidance cut.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 135 points, or 0.51%, to 26,462 after earlier trading as low as 26,310. The S&P 500 fell 0.04%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.21%.
3M postedweaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings and slashed 2019 profit forecasts. Shares tumbled nearly 13% to $190.73. The company said it will launch a restructuring plan, including 2,000 job cuts, that will re-align the company into four business units. Microsoft rose 3.3% to $129.15 afterthe software giant beat Wall Street's third-quarter earnings expectations. Microsoft traded as high as $131.37, pushing the stock past a valuation of $1 trillion for the first time. Shares of Facebook ( FB - Get Report) rose 5.9% to $193.26 after the social media giant posted solid first-quarter results. The company said it set aside $3 billion as part of ongoing legal proceedings with the Federal Trade Commission. Comcast ( CMCSA - Get Report) was up 2.6% to $42.93 after reporting stronger-than-expected first quarter earnings. The company missed analysts' revenue estimates. Tesla (TSLA -Get Report) fell 4.3% to $247.63 a share after the electric vehicle company reported awider-than-expected first-quarter loss but said it expects to return to profitability in the third quarter. In economic news, new orders for manufactured durable goods in March increased $6.8 billion, or 2.7%, to $258.5 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau said. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 230,000 for the week ended April 20, the Labor Department said, the largest increase since early September 2017. Claims dropped to 193,000 in the week prior, which was the lowest level since September 1969. Facebook, Microsoft and Comcast are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS member club. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells the stocks? Learn more now.