Stocks Closed Mixed after Mixed Earnings

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending lower after a handful of uninspiring earnings reports while the Nasdaq closed near a record high following a proposed biotech merger. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 85.34 points, or 0.47%, to 17,949.59. The S&P 500 was down 3.11 points, or 0.15%, to 2,097.29. The Nasdaq Composite rose 19.50 points, or 0.39%, to 5,014.10.

Yahoo! Inc.’s first-quarter revenue fell short of analysts’ estimates, underlining Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer’s challenge in attracting advertisers even as the Web portal adds content and signs new partners. Sales, excluding revenue shared with partner websites, fell 4 percent to $1.04 billion, missing analysts’ average prediction of $1.06 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Yum Brands Inc. (YUM) on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit of $362 million. It had profit of 81 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 80 cents per share.The results exceeded Wall Street expectations.