Stocks Opened Higher after Earnings

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Thursday, amid a parade of companies reporting quarterly results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately climbed 39.52 points, or 0.20%, to 20,093.86. The S&P 500 gained 4.63 points, or 0.20%, to 2,299.30. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 13.76 points, or 0.24%, to 5,696.21.

Twitter Inc. (TWTR) issued a weak outlook and revealed relatively flat fourth-quarter growth in the U.S. Twitter reported 319 million monthly active users, a 0.6% increase from the previous quarter. Revenue rose just 1 percent to $717.2 million.

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) matched profit expectations, but provided a downbeat outlook for this year. Net earnings for the quarter to Dec. 31 fell to $550 million, or 13 cents a share, from $1.24 billion, or 28 cents a share. Revenue fell 6% to $9.4 billion from $10.0 billion.

Yum Brands Inc. (YUM) reported fourth-quarter net income of $267.0 million, or 76 cents per share, compared with $275.0 million, or 66 cents per share, for the same period last year. Sales for the quarter totaled $2.02 billion, up from $1.98 billion.

Crude futures rose Thursday on better-than-expected gasoline demand in the U.S. though a rise in crude inventories was expected to cap further upside. Brent crude rose 50 cents, or nearly 1%, to $55.65 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 53 cents, or 1%, to $52.84 a barrel.