Stocks Opened Higher after J&J, 3M Earnings Topped Estimates

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday as another batch of fourth-quarter earnings results came in stronger-than-expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 124.58 points, or 0.40%, to 31,084.58. The S&P 500 was up 9.66 points, or 0.25%, to 3,865.02. The Nasdaq Composite added 46.04 points, or 0.34%, to 13,682.03.

Oil futures rose Tuesday, finding support with the U.S. dollar steadying after a bounce and following reports of possible explosions in Saudi Arabia. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery rose 33 cents, or 0.6%, to $53.10 a barrel. March Brent crude rose 33 cents, or 0.6%, to $56.21 a barrel.

Johnson & Johnson’s fourth-quarter results were fueled by another jump in pharmaceutical sales, which rose more than 16% year-over-year. The company sees full-year adjusted earnings of $9.40 to $9.60 a share, beating Bloomberg-compiled consensus estimates for $8.96, and full-year sales growth of 8.4% to $22.5 billion.

3M grew both sales and profits over last year in the fourth quarter, as sales in each of its safety and industrial, transportation and electronic, healthcare and consumer segments topped estimates. For the fourth quarter, 3M generated $8.6 billion in sales, up 5.8% year over year, and $2.38 in per-share earnings.

Verizon topped sales and profit expectations but posted weaker-than-expected subscriber growth in several of its key segments. For the December quarter, Verizon earnings came in at $1.21 an adjusted share, excluding items. Revenue fell 0.2% to $34.7 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31.

Home prices jumped by the most since 2014 in November, as booming demand for single-family homes during the pandemic encroached further on housing affordability. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index posted a 9.5% annual gain in November, accelerating from 8.4% in October.