A plethora of strong corporate earnings and encouraging reports from Europe helped the US markets to trade in green during the mid-day session. Major companies including General Electric, McDonald's and Verizon reported better-than-expected earnings in their latest quarters. In Europe, Germany gave an optimistic indication on its discussion with France to deal with the regions crippling debt crisis Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.41 percent or 163.25 points to trade at 11,705.03. The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. composite index rose 1.72 percent or 44.68 points to trade at 2,643.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 1.83 percent or 22.25 points to trade at 1,237.64. Among other major indices, the New York Stock Exchange composite index gained 2.01 percent or 146.31 points to trade at 7,420.21. The American Stock Exchange composite index was up 2.81 percent or 60.76 points to trade at 2,25.05.
Hot Stocks of the Day: GE, MSFT, MCD, AOS, VZ, APD
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reported 11 percent increase in its FY 2011 Q3 earnings to $3.4 billion, from $3.1 billion in the third quarter of 2010. Its operating EPS excluding the preferred redemption impact was $0.31, up 11 percent from $0.28 per share in the third quarter of last year. Analysts forecasted a net profit of $0.31 per share for the company. The company's revenues were $35.4 billion for the quarter, up 12 percent excluding the impact of NBCU, and were flat compared to revenues of $35.4 billion from the prior year's quarter. Shares were down 1.29 percent or $0.22 to trade at $16.42.
Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced FY2012 Q1 revenue of $17.37 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, a 7 percent increase from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $7.20 billion, $5.74 billion, and $0.68 per share, which represented increases of 1 percent, 6 percent, and 10 percent, respectively, when compared with the prior year period. Shares fell 0.50 percent or $0.14 to trade at $0.14 to trade at $26.91.
McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) posted earnings of $1.45 a share in the third quarter of FY 2011, compared with $1.29 a share in the year earlier period. Revenue rose to $7.2 billion from $6.3 billion in the year earlier period. Analysts had expected McDonald's to deliver earnings of $1.43 per share on revenue of $7.03 billion. Shares added 3.09 percent or $2.75 to trade at $91.76.
AO Smith Corp.