Stocks rose on Tuesday, Feb. 5, following an unscheduled meeting late Monday in Washington between Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that reaffirmed the central bank's signaling of a pause in near-term interest rate hikes.
At the 90-minute dinner, which included Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Fed Vice Chairman Richard Claria, the Fed chairman "did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook," the central bank said.
The dovish tone might be coupled with bullish remarks on U.S. trade talks Tuesday evening when Trump delivers his delayed State of the Union address to Congress. The address will come less than a month ahead of the self-imposed March 1 deadline to reach a trade deal with China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172 points, or 0.68%, to 25,412 - at its high for the session the blue-chip index gained 183 points. The S&P 500 was up 0.47% and the Nasdaq gained 0.74%.
Boeing Co. (BA) was leading the Dow, closing at an all-time high Tuesday of $409.98 after the world's biggest planemaker unveiled an investment in supersonic business jet developer Aerion.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) , the parent of Google, beat fourth-quarter analysts' estimates for earnings and revenue but the stock rose 1.16% Tuesday amid investor concern over rising costs in some of the company's growth businesses.
The internet giant posted earnings of $12.77 a share vs. a $10.86 consensus estimate, while revenue of $31.84 billion beat a $31.3 billion estimate. Total revenue rose 22% year over year and 23% in constant currency, while revenue on Google's own properties (including traffic acquisition costs) rose 22% to $27 billion.
But operating income of $8.2 billion in the quarter fell short of expectations of $8.6 billion as expenses rose. The company reported that its GAAP costs and expenses rose 26% year over year to $31.07 billion. Capital expenditures jumped 64% to just more than $7 billion, as company-wide headcount expanded to more than 100,000 and management piled more cash into the group's high-growth "other bets" businesses, such as Waymo, Google Fiber, the Verily life sciences unit. Alphabet, however, offered little transparency on how or when those bets will pay off.
"Yes, expenses were on the rise and that will put some fear in what it means to operating income growth, just like it did with Amazon, however, its impacts are manageable because the company's earnings power is still quite strong," said Jim Cramer and the Action Alerts PLUS team, which holds Alphabet in its portfolio.
Google Extends Declines as Rising Costs, 'Other Bets' Questions, Cloud Solid Q4Google Slides in Spite of Topping Estimates: 5 Key TakeawaysBP PLC (BP) posted stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings as underlying profit surged from a year earlier despite a slump in global crude prices.
BP said underlying replacement cost profit, which strips out the value of oil held in inventory, rose to $3.48 billion in the quarter, up 65% from a year earlier and ahead of the company-supplied forecast of $2.63 billion. BP also said it will pay a dividend of 10.25 cents a share, an increase of 2.5%.
The stock rose 3.45%.
BP Beats Q4 Profit Forecast, Boosts Dividend, as Production SurgesBP is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS member club. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells BP? Learn more now.
Estee Lauder Cos. (EL) posted stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter sales and boosted its full-year outlook thanks to solid global skin care sales.
The stock jumped 11.64% on Tuesday.
Est?(C)e Lauder Tops Q2 Sales Forecasts, Boosts Full-Year Profit OutlookViacom Inc. (VIAB) earned $1.12 a share on an adjusted basis in its fiscal first quarter, beating estimates of $1.03. But revenue of $3.09 billion came in below forecasts of $3.12 billion. Shares rose 3%.
Viacom Beats Q1 Earnings Estimate, Flat Revenue Misses ForecastsEarnings reports are expected after the closing bell Tuesday from Walt Disney Co. (DIS) , Snap Inc. (SNAP) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) .
Disney Reports Earnings on Tuesday - Here's What to Look ForWhen Disney Reports Tuesday, the Key Is Bob Iger's Conference CallWalt Disney and Anadarko Petroleum 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.