Tuesday was a messy day for the stock market, as all the major indexes struggled to find direction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.50%) was up 0.23% as of 1:30 p.m. EST.
Contributing to the Dow's gain on Tuesday were Boeing (BA 2.71%) and Intel (INTC +4.96%). Shares of Boeing rose after the CEO was praised by the new board chairman, while Intel stock continued to push higher in the aftermath of a positive earnings report.
Boeing CEO gets support
Boeing's 737 MAX planes remain grounded following two fatal crashes tied to a flight-control system, and there's still plenty of uncertainty regarding when the jets will be back in the air. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who was stripped of his chairmanship last month, admitted in a congressional hearing last week that the aerospace giant had made mistakes.
While Muilenburg has been under fire from all directions for the company's missteps, new Boeing Chairman Dave Calhoun gave the CEO some support on Tuesday. Speaking to CNBC, Calhoun said, "From the vantage point of our board, Dennis has done everything right." Calhoun also noted that Muilenburg didn't create the problem with the 737 MAX, and he said that Muilenburg had offered to forgo bonuses for 2019.
Image source: Getty Images.
This vote of confidence from the chairman helped push shares of Boeing up 2.2%. The stock is now up about 11% year to date, trailing the Dow by more than 6 percentage points.
The 737 MAX isn't the only Boeing plane producing drama. The company reportedly grounded dozens of older 737 NG models late last month due to structural cracks.
In the long run, questions remain about the willingness of flyers to step foot on a 737 MAX once the aircraft are cleared for service, and how eager airlines will be to commit to new Boeing planes. The fallout from the 737 MAX debacle could persist for a long time.
Intel continues post-earnings rally
Semiconductor giant Intel is facing intense competition from rival Advanced Micro Devices. AMD has launched solid PC and server processors, and it's slowly chipping away at Intel's market share. Despite AMD's progress, Intel has been able to impress investors with its results. The stock has been surging ever since the company reported its third-quarter financials on Oct. 24.
Shares of Intel rose another 0.9% on Tuesday, bringing the total post-earnings gain to roughly 11%. Year to date, Intel stock is now up 24%, outperforming the Dow.
Intel beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings in the third quarter, producing slight sales and adjusted earnings growth. PC-centric revenue was down, but growth in server chips and other smaller segments was enough to offset that weakness. The PC business will likely continue to be tough; Intel recently slashed prices on its latest high-end PC chips to better compete with AMD.
Despite the increased competition, Intel raised its outlook for the full year. The company now expects to produce revenue of $71 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.60, up from previous guidance of $69.5 billion and $4.40, respectively.
Intel's results are holding up, even as a resurgent AMD attempts to storm the castle. While overall growth is sluggish, investors are happy with Intel's performance for now.
