Stocks edged mostly higher in afternoon trading on Wall Street Wednesday, but indexes were held back by streaming entertainment giant Netflix, which lost more than a third of its value. IBM jumped and helped give the Dow a bump after reporting results that beat analysts’ estimates, the AP reports. The S&P 500 fell 2.76 points, or 0.1%, to 4,459.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 249.59 points, or 0.7%, to 35,160.79. The Nasdaq fell 166.59 points, or 1.2%, to 13,453.07.
Netflix slumped 35.1%. The company suffered its first subscriber loss in more than a decade and expects a steeper decline during the current quarter. It is also considering changes that it has long resisted, including minimizing password sharing and creating a low-cost subscription supported by advertising. Netflix stock is now down about 68% from the all-time high it reached in November. Health care stocks made some of the biggest gains. CVS rose 2.7% and medical device maker Boston Scientific added 31%.
Big technology companies did some of the heavy lifting after helping to power the market higher a day earlier. IBM rose 7.1% after reporting solid financial results. Cisco rose 2.3%. Investors are continuing to focus on the latest round of corporate earnings as they try to determine how companies are dealing with rising inflation and cost pressures. Railroad operator CSX, electric vehicle maker Tesla, and United Airlines will report their results later Wednesday. American Airlines and Union Pacific will report results on Thursday.
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