U.S. stocks are mixed after Tesla, Netflix earnings

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday after earnings reports from Netflix and Tesla.

At 10:59 ET (14:59 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 259 points or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 1.3%.

Tesla beat profit expectations; Netflix subscribers jump

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares fell more than 7.3% after it beat quarterly profit expectations but said its production could slow in the third quarter because it is upgrading factories. More price cuts for its electric vehicles could be coming as the EV giant tries to boost demand amid rising competition from other automakers, potentially squeezing profit margins further.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) saw a burst of new subscribers in the second quarter after a password-sharing crackdown but revenue fell slightly short of expectations. Shares fell 8.7%.

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) rose 6.1% after beating expectations on revenue and profit and raising its outlook for the full year.

Tech sector drives market gains

Tech stocks have surged this year, driving the Nasdaq up 37% since January, on the prospect that the Federal Reserve is drawing closer to ending its interest rate increases, though the central bank is still expected to raise rates by another quarter of a percentage point next week.

The Dow notched its longest winning streak on Wednesday in nearly four years as earnings continue to pour out.

Investors eye next week's Fed meeting

The Fed is trying to tame inflation and get it back to its 2% target, with the latest reading showing prices in June were cooling faster than expected but still near 3%. Futures traders are mixed on whether the Fed will raise rates again this year after July. There’s about a 30% probability of another quarter-point hike in November, according to the CME’s FedWatch Tool.

Economic data indicates the economy is cooling but the labor market remains tight. New jobless claims last week came in lower than expected, at 228,000. Existing home sales fell 3.3% from the prior month and reached 4.16 million annualized, which was below expectations for 4.2M.