By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Medha Singh
(Reuters) – The Nasdaq was set to extend gains for the fourth straight session on Wednesday, following a turbulent start to the year, as Google-parent Alphabet and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices’ shares surged after strong quarterly results.
Alphabet Inc rose 8.2% after reporting record quarterly sales on Tuesday, and said it plans to undertake a 20-to-one stock split.
The stock split should make it more appealing to retail investors, said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com, adding that Alphabet earnings will underpin a return in confidence in beaten down technology names.
“After all the tumult of January, solid earnings can be a catalyst for gains.”
Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc, which is set to report results on Wednesday, rose 1.4%, and Amazon.com Inc slated to report on Thursday firmed 1.1%.
Last month, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell as much as 19% from its all-time high in November as investors dumped highly valued growth stocks on prospects of faster-than-expected rate hikes.
Traders are betting on five rate hikes this year after hawkish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve last month.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc climbed 8.5% after the company on Tuesday forecast 2022 revenue above expectations, following strong quarterly demand for its semiconductors, despite global supply snags.
Other chipmakers including Nvidia Corp, Qualcomm Inc and Micron Technology Inc rose nearly 3.6% each.
“Some will see this (Alphabet results) as a positive sign, the next leg in the bull market as structural winners continue to impress,” AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould said.
At 10:04 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 15.25 points, or 0.04%, at 35,420.49, the S&P 500 was up 24.05 points, or 0.53%, at 4,570.59, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 111.20 points, or 0.78%, at 14,457.20.
U.S. private payrolls unexpectedly fell by 301,000 jobs in January as a resurgence in COVID-19 infections disrupted business activity, the ADP National Employment Report showed.
The more comprehensive jobs report is due on Friday.
Of the companies that have reported results so far during this earnings season, 78.8% of them have beaten analysts’ earnings estimates, compared with an average of 84% over the past four quarters, according to Refinitiv data.
PayPal Holdings Inc slumped 24.8% after it forecast first-quarter revenue and profit well below expectations.
Starbucks Corp fell 0.8% as the coffee chain lowered its estimates for profits this year and said it will raise menu prices in 2022 and reduce spending to offset soaring costs for labor and goods.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.18-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.89-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded nine new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 29 new highs and 13 new lows.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
