Wall Street Ends Mostly Flat on Mixed Earnings

The stock market finished pretty much where it started on Wednesday as a mixed collection of earnings from big-name American companies left investors uninspired.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, the market’s most widely used indicator, ended just barely higher, by 0.01 point.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 43.16 points, held back by big drops in Procter & Gamble and AT&T. P.& G. issued a weak quarterly profit forecast, and AT&T lost subscribers from its contract-based plans for the first time.

Investors are taking their cue from a heavy dose of earnings this week.

Procter & Gamble, the maker of Tide detergent and Gillette razors, dropped $4.82, or 5.9 percent, to $77.12 after its profit forecast came in below analysts’ expectations.

AT&T dropped $1.96, or 5 percent, to $37.04 after it lost phone subscribers from its contract-based plans in its latest quarter, in a sign that industry growth was slowing now that most Americans have smartphones.

But the mood on Wall Street was tempered by Boeing and General Dynamics, which reported strong quarterly profits.

Boeing, a Dow component, climbed $2.65, or 3 percent, to $90.83 after the airplane maker said its first-quarter net income rose 20 percent despite problems with the 787 Dreamliner. The company said it would still meet its financial and delivery targets this year.

General Dynamics, the aerospace and military contractor, surged $4.63, or 6.9 percent, to $71.73 after posting a profit that was better than expected.

So far, 175 of the companies in the S.& P. 500, or 35 percent, have reported quarterly earnings. Two-thirds of the Dow’s members have reported. While the majority have delivered better-than-expected profits, their sales have not been as strong, suggesting they were struggling to grow.

Sixty-nine percent of companies in the S.& P. 500 have beaten earnings expectations, better than the 10-year average of 62 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ. But only 39 percent have beaten revenue forecasts.

Looking ahead, the outlook dims. Of the 35 companies that have given earnings forecasts for the second quarter, 28 are negative, according to S&P Capital IQ, with only four positive and three in-line.

“We think that most managements are appropriately cautious in their outlooks, because it’s very possible that the second quarter will continue to slow,” said Jim Russell, a regional investment director at U.S. Bank.

The Dow closed down 0.3 percent, at 14,676.30. The S.& P. 500 index was up 0.01 point, to 1,578.79.

The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.32 point to 3,269.65.

The market’s gains in April have slowed sharply after a first-quarter surge pushed both the Dow and the S.& P. 500 to nominal highs.

The Dow is up just 0.7 percent this month while the S.& P. 500 has gained 0.6 percent.

During the first three months of the year, the Dow and the S.& P. 500 averaged monthly gains of more than 3 percent, driven by optimism that the housing and job markets were recovering and that company earnings would continue to climb.

Companies are still making money in the first quarter, however, and are on track to increase their earnings by an average of almost 3 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ.

“Over all, I’m really quite comforted,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. “It’s not an easy environment in which to make money, but companies are finding ways in which to hold costs in line and grow earnings.”

In the bond market, the price of the Treasury’s 10-year note rose
1/32, to 102 22/32, while its yield slipped to 1.70 percent, from 1.71 percent late Tuesday.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 24, 2013

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated the day's trend in the Nasdaq composite index. It closed up, not down, by 0.01 percent.