Positive earnings reports had investors scrambling to snap up stocks Tuesday, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.22%) and the Nasdaq Composite closing at all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.06%) also rose. The healthcare, consumer discretionary, and technology sectors all had very good sessions, while consumer staples was the only sector finishing in the red.
Today's stock market
| Index | Percentage Change | Point Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dow | 0.55% | 145.34 |
| S&P 500 | 0.88% | 25.71 |
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
As for individual stocks, investors were pleased with user growth at Twitter (TWTR), and Coca-Cola (KO 0.68%) reported strength in its core brands and newer beverages.
Image source: Getty Images.
Twitter impresses investors with profit and user growth
Shares of Twitter soared 15.6% after the social media specialist beat expectations for first-quarter results with better-than-expected profitability and growth of monetizable users. Revenue rose 18.3% to $787 million and earnings per share came in at $0.25. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.15 per share on revenue of $775 million.
Monetizable daily active users (mDAUs), which include users that log into a Twitter application that can show ads, were 134 million, up 6% from last quarter and 11% from the period a year ago. Advertising revenue grew 20% in constant currency and total ad engagements increased 23%. Profit was enhanced by a tax benefit; excluding that, net income grew 8% and EPS was $0.08.
CEO Jack Dorsey emphasized the company's progress in removing abusive tweets and its focus on live events. Twitter is entering into new partnerships with sports broadcasters for live streaming and interactivity that allows users to vote for the individual athletes to be highlighted in live-stream views.
Growth strategies are working at Coke
Coca-Cola overcame strong currency headwinds to deliver first-quarter revenue and earnings that exceeded expectations, and shares rose 1.7%. Net revenue grew 5.2% to $8.02 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $7.89 billion. Comparable (non-GAAP) earnings per share increased 2.1% to $0.48, above the $0.46 Wall Street was expecting the company to earn on that basis.
The strong dollar was a 6-percentage-point headwind to revenue and reduced operating earnings by 11 percentage points, but underlying growth was strong, with case sales up 2%. The company's growth strategies are paying off, with Orange Vanilla Coke and the Zero Sugar version helping to drive 6% retail value growth for the Coca-Cola brand. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar had double-digit growth for the sixth consecutive quarter. Water, enhanced water, and sports drinks sales increased 6%.
The $5.1 billion acquisition of Costa coffee will start paying off next quarter as Coca-Cola launches Costa ready-to-drink products. The company reiterated guidance for 12%-13% full-year revenue growth, including an 8%-9% tailwind from acquisitions, divestitures, and structural items.
