Stock Market Today: Netflix Stock Rally Sends S&P 500 to New High

Shares soared on Wednesday, boosted by a well-received earnings report from the streaming giant. Netflix (NFLX). Some strong economic data also helped boost stocks.

At closing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 37,806, while the Nasdaq Compound rose 0.4% to 15,481. He S&P 500 it gained 0.1% to 4,868, its fourth consecutive record close.

The upward momentum in the major indices was a positive reaction to Netflix's fourth quarter results. The company reported year-over-year fourth-quarter revenue growth of 12.5% to $8.8 billion, while earnings per share rose to $2.11 from 12 cents a year ago. The final results were higher than analysts expected, although the final figure did not meet estimates.

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Despite the bottom line, Netflix stock rose 10.7% on Wednesday thanks to its stellar subscriber numbers. Specifically, the company added 13.1 million new subscribers globally, its biggest fourth quarter for subscription growth, easily beating its forecast of about 8.8 million.

"We enter 2024 with good momentum," Netflix said in its earnings report. For the first quarter, the company expects revenue to rise 13% to $9.2 billion and earnings to rise 56% to $4.49 per share.

"We think NFLX could stay afloat in the first half of 2024 with operating income margins established, paid exchange declining and ads scaling," he says Wells Fargo analyst Steve Cahall. But the company's "outperformance in the fourth quarter indicates that there is still plenty of growth and margin ahead."

Elsewhere, Metaplatforms (GOAL) became the latest stock to surpass $1 trillion in market value. META shares rose 1.4% today, raising its market capitalization to $1.004 trillion. goal partner Magnificent 7 actions Apple (AAPL-0.4%), NVIDIA (NVDA+2.5%), Alphabet (GOOGLE+1.1%), Amazon.com (AMZN+0.5%) and microsoft (MSFT+0.9%) (which today briefly surpassed a market value of $3 trillion) are already members of the trillion-dollar club.

Today's Upside for META Stock Comes After Raymond James Analyst Josh Beck named it a “top pick,” citing “a growing narrative around one of the most compelling generative artificial intelligence (AI) monetization themes in developing technology that could scale to $25 billion.” to $60 billion of incremental revenue.”

January PMI data is strong

In economic news, S&P Global's preliminary manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) jumped to a 15-month high of 50.3 in January from 48.2 in December. Readings above 50 indicate expansion activity.

The services PMI, which measures activity in the services sector, hit a seven-month high of 52.9 in January.

This morning's PMI data "beat forecasts, but tomorrow's gross domestic product (GDP) report and consumption and personal expenses for Friday (PCE) inflation "Print is likely to have a greater impact on investor confidence," he says. Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers. "However, in this context, market participants expect the first Fed cut to come in May versus March, with solid data serving to extend the journey across the monetary policy bridge."

Stock Market Today: Netflix Stock Rally Sends S&P 500 to New High

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