Stocks Slide on Europe Fears

U.S. stocks closed broadly lower on Monday, weighed by uncertainty over Europe’s ability to make progress on debt issues after weekend political events in France and the Netherlands. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 102.09 points, or 0.78%, to 12,927.17. The S&P 500 lost 11.59 points, or 0.84%, at 1,366.94. The Nasdaq Composite lost 30.00 points, or 1.00%, to 2,970.45.

The Dutch government collapsed Monday, a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy lost the first round of that country’s presidential election. A new report showed that European government debt is piling up despite severe budget cuts.

Facebook Inc said its revenue declined sequentially in the first quarter, the weakest performance by the world’s largest social media network since at least 2010. Net income slid 12 percent to $205 million in the quarter, from $233 million a year earlier at the company, which is aggressively expanding and adding employees.

Netflix just reported earnings, and it’s a beat on the bottom line. It’s right in line with expectations on the top line.Revenue: $870 million versus $869 million expected by the Street;EPS: -$0.08 versus -$0.27 expected by the Street; Q2 revenue guidance: $897 million midpoint expected by the Street; Q2 EPS guidance: -$0.17 expected by the Street; U.S. Streaming users: 23. 41 million versus 22.8 million – 23.6 million subscribers guided by Netflix (via Peter Kafka)

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN) on Monday reported a first-quarter profit of $265 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with a profit of $666 million, or 55 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $3.12 billion, down from $3.39 billion.