The Markets Now: Pfizer Bolsters Stocks; Investors Await Amazon's Earnings

By Casey Quinlan Jan 29, 2013 11:55 am

Stocks moved up after blue chip Pfizer posted better-than-expected earnings.

In economic news, US home prices declined 0.1% in November, and consumer confidence dropped to 58.6 in January, the lowest it has been since November 2011. The ICSC-Goldman Store Sales Index fell 1% from the week before, down from recent growth of 3%.

The Dow (INDEXDJX:.DJI) rose 0.34% to 13928.92 and the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) moved up 0.26% to 1504.02. The Nasdaq (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) moved down 0.21% to 3147.83.

Ford (NYSE:F) earned $0.31 per share for its fourth-quarter earnings, beating analyst estimates, but its downbeat forecast brought shares down 5.73% to $12.99.

T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW) reported disappointing earnings at $0.88 a share for their fourth-quarter earnings, sending shares down 2.08% to $70.69.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) rose 2.83% to $27.60 after reporting fourth-quarter profit of $0.85 per share, up from $0.19 per share a year ago.

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) shares rose 3.65% to $54.56. The company's fourth-quarter earnings slipped 3.6% to $0.74 per share compared to $0.77 per share a year earlier due to weak sales of Zyprexa.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE:TYC) announced first-quarter income of $0.34 per share, down from $0.69 per share a year earlier. Analysts expected $0.40 per share. The stock fell 0.78% to $30.46.

The glass manufacturer Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW) surprised investors by bringing in $2.15 billion, a 14% increase from the fourth quarter of 2011. Shares inched up 0.74% to $12.24.

Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) reported earnings of $0.23 per share compared to $0.24 per share a year earlier, beating Wall Street expectations. Yahoo’s display ad revenue has fallen, however, and its shares sank 2.63% to $19.77.

Investors await Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) fourth-quarter earnings report this afternoon. Analysts estimate that the company will post a profit of $0.27 per share, down from $0.38 a year ago. Its stock declined 2.28% to $269.70.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) shares headed down after recent gains in the past few days, moving down 3.51% to $31.33.

Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA), which soared yesterday, sank 6.34% to $2.66. The gaming company releases quarterly results next week.

PetSmart (NASDAQ:PETM), a huge decliner yesterday following a downgrade from Buy to Sell, continues its downward trend to $63.56, falling 0.12%.

Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) shares plunged 7.34% to $14.99. The company will present its new BlackBerry 10 tomorrow at a press event in Manhattan.

Major homebuilder D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) reported first-quarter income of $0.20 per share, down from $0.27 last year. Sales revenue was higher than expected at $1.2 billion.

US Steel (NYSE:X) posted a fourth-quarter loss, with net sales falling 6.69%.