Stocks rose on Wednesday as market participants reversed some earlier losses from this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 150 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite added about 1% and 1.3%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (SPY ): +0.96% or +47.45 points to 5,000.62
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA ): +0.40% or +151.52 points to 38,424.27
Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ ): +1.30% or +203.55 points to 15,859.15
On the Earnings Front: Lyft (LYFT ) shares rallied as much as 37% on Wednesday after the company still outperformed analyst estimates after posting a major error in its initial earnings press release. The ride-hailer's first release forecasted for a 500 point, or 5%, expansion of its adjusted earnings margin for its full year 2024. However, the correct projection is 50 basis points, or 0.5%, Chief Financial Officer Erin Brewer said during the company's earnings call.
Airbnb (ABNB ) reported better-than-expected revenue in its fourth-quarter and offered strong guidance for its current quarter after market close on Tuesday. The logging booking company also announced its board's approval to buy back up to $6 billion of its Class A common stock, according to a press release.
"2023 was another incredible year for Airbnb. Our Host community surpassed 5 million for the first time, we delivered nearly 200 new upgrades to our core service, and we ended the year with our highest-ever number of global active listings," said CEO Brian Chesky in a statement.
Looking ahead, Airbnb expects first quarter revenue between $2.03 billion and $2.07 billion, with its low-end estimates matching Wall Street's high end expectations for the company.
Robinhood Markets (HOOD ) posted a surprise profit gain in its fourth-quarter after market close on Tuesday, stemming from higher interest income and increased trading in the last three months of 2023.
"looking at revenues, with the current macro backdrop, we're finding for strong growth in 2024, driven by continued 20-plus percent net deposit growth, increasing gold adoption, double-digit gains and trading market share," said CFO Jason Warnick during the company's earnings call, quoted by Reuters.
In Single-Stock News: Amazon (AMZN ) founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos has sold a little over $2 billion shares in the e-commerce company, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bezos sold 11,997,698 shares from Friday through Monday, the filings shows, representing part of his plan to sell 50 million Amazon shares before Jan. 31, 2025.
Uber Technologies (UBER ) announced it will buy back up to $7 billion worth of shares on Wednesday. CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah said in press release that the company's first-ever repurchase program is a "vote of confidence in the company's strong financial momentum," adding that Uber "will be thoughtful as it relates to the pace of our buyback, beginning with actions that partially offset stock-based compensation, and working towards a consistent reduction in share count."
For Thursday: Market participants will parse through a series of fresh economic data including reports on U.S. retail sales for January, homebuilder confidence for February, and last week's initial unemployment claims print from the Labor Department. The day's earnings reports also include quarterly results for Cisco Systems (CSCO ), Twilio (TWLO ) and Stellantis (STLA ).
