Stocks Opened Higher on Strong Earnings

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, as stronger-than-expected earnings results from companies across sectors boosted investor confidence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately advanced 30.65 points, or 0.12%, to 26,541.70. The S&P 500 was up 6.17 points, or 0.21%, to 2,914.14. The Nasdaq Composite gained 31.98 points, or 0.40%, to 8,047.24.

Oil prices extended gains Tuesday morning, as markets continue to react to tougher action against Iran’s oil market from the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for June WTI added 49 cents, or 0.7%, to $66.03 a barrel. June Brent crude was up 32 cents, or 0.4%, at $74.36 a barrel.

Coca-Cola (KO) beat Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly results on the top- and bottom-lines as the company’s efforts to pivot to products aside from sugary drinks paid off. Comparative earnings per share totaled 48 cents in the fiscal first quarter on revenue of $8.02 billion, exceeding expectations for earnings of 46 cents and sales of $7.88 billion.

Twitter (TWTR) increased its monetizable daily active users (mDAU) in the March quarter, helping drive better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit. The company’s mDAU grew 11% year-over-year to 134 million in the fiscal first quarter. Adjusted earnings of 37 cents per share on revenue of $787 million topped expectations for earnings of 15 cents per share on sales of $775 million.

Verizon Communications (VZ) posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings and raised its earnings forecast for the year, but posted a loss in phone subscribers in the first quarter. Earnings per share of $1.20 beat consensus expectations by 3 cents, while total operating revenue of $32.1 billion was in-line with estimates, according to Bloomberg data.

United Technologies (UTX) beat consensus expectations on the top and bottom-lines, with adjusted earnings per share coming in 20 cents ahead of estimates at $1.91 in the first quarter and sales of $18.4 billion exceeding expectations for $17.99 billion.

Procter & Gamble (PG) topped Wall Street’s expectations in its fiscal third-quarter results. P&G’s organic revenue rose 5% in the third quarter, with beauty category organic sales up 9%. Net quarterly sales were $16.46 billion – better than the $16.36 billion expected – while core earnings per share of $1.06 beat expectations by 3 cents.