The earnings beat marches on, and a few major releases are pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.11%) in opposite directions today. The blue-chip index hasn't moved far, as a few top leaders and laggards are canceling out each other's movements. As of 2:20 p.m. EDT, the Dow has shed just 12 points, or 0.08%. Let's get caught up with the big news on the Dow.
Boeing soars as consumer goods and telecom stocks fall
Despite all the drama surrounding the 787 Dreamliner's grounding, Boeing (BA -2.87%) made the most of its first quarter in 2013 with an expectations-topping earnings release. The stock has risen 3.3% so far after Boeing reported net income of $1.44 per share, a year-over-year increase of more than 18%.
Halted Dreamliner deliveries did hit the company's revenue, which fell more than 2% compared to the year-ago quarter, but analysts and investors had expected some fallout from the grounding. Boeing did well at growing margins, particularly in its commercial airplane unit, where operating margin grew by 1.5 percentage points.
Unfortunately, not all companies on the Dow posted such welcome earnings releases. Procter & Gamble (PG 0.68%) shares have fallen 4.8% so far today after the company's revenue missed expectations despite rising 2% year over year. Earnings rose by 6% at P&G, but that wasn't enough to keep investors from bailing on the stock. The company's forecast for the fiscal fourth quarter has hurt the stock today, as P&G expects an earnings range below analyst expectations as tightening consumer wallets and a slowing product pipeline impact the company's financial footing.
AT&T (T 1.88%) similarly whiffed on revenue expectations when the telecom company reported earnings after the closing bell yesterday. Shares have fallen 5.4% so far to lead the Dow lower. The company's sales fell 1.5% to land short of projections, with landline revenue in particular dragging down results. Although the company's wireless business continues to perform well and earnings grew by more than 3%, AT&T still trails rival Verizon, the nation's leading mobile carrier. Verizon added more than double the number of contract customers that AT&T added last quarter.
Outside of earnings, Microsoft (MSFT 0.37%) is also among the Dow's leading stocks today, up 3.5%. Microsoft's business division, which includes its Office software, has performed well recently, growing sales by more than 5% this past quarter. The firm plans to expand Office to other devices in order to capitalize on the growing business, but investors received even more news today from the tech company. Microsoft signed Android-related patent deals with Chinese phone-maker ZTE and additionally confirmed a press event for its next-generation Xbox entertainment system on May 21, giving investors plenty to look forward to as the company attempts to advance in areas outside of the PC industry.
