S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Dropped 1% After Tesla and Alphabet Earnings Releases

Barry Adams
24 Jul, 2024
New York City

Stock market indexes on Wall Street turned lower after mega-cap companies reported lower than expected earnings. 

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite declined more than 1.5% after traders reviewed the latest quarterly results from Google-parent Alphabet and Tesla. 

Alphabet reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and earnings, but YouTube revenue disappointed some analysts. 

Tesla plunged more than 10% after the electric vehicle maker reported a 2% increase in overall revenue, but automotive revenue fell 7% in the second quarter. 

Tesla is losing market share to a growing list of competitors, and Tesla's discounts and financial incentives in the U.S. and China also hit the company's profitability. 

Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon dropped more than 1% after Tesla and Alphabet reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 1.4% to 5,481.04, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.9% to 17,648.01, and the Russell 2000 index fell 0.7% to 2,226.55.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.41%, 10-year Treasury notes increased to 4.24%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged higher to 4.48%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.06 to $78.02 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged down 5 cents to $2.14 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $13.15 to $2,421.65 an ounce, and silver increased 7 cents to $29.30. 

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 104.17.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Tesla plunged 12.2% to $216.18, and the company reported a drop in its automotive unit sales declined for the second quarter in a row. 

Moreover, the company's discounts and financial incentives lowered its profitability. 

Revenue in the second quarter increased 2% to $25.5 billion from $24.9 billion, net income attributable to shareholders plunged 45% to $1.5 billion from $2.7 billion, and diluted earnings per share plunged to 52 cents from 91 cents a year ago. 

Alphabet dropped 3.9% to $176.49 after the parent company of Google reported better-than-expected quarterly results, but YouTube's revenue disappointed investors. 

Revenue in the second quarter increased 14% to $84.7 billion from $74.6 billion, net income rose to $24.6 billion from $18.4 billion, and diluted earnings per share increased to $1.89 from $1.44 a year ago. 

YouTube revenue increased to $8.6 billion from $7.6 billion, Google cloud revenue rose to $10.3 billion from $8.0 billion, and Google search revenue jumped to $48.5 billion from $42.6 billion a year ago, respectively.