Alcoa (NYSE:) kicked off the official earnings season with a beat after the bell Tuesday, sending shares higher in after-hours trading. The company also held strong to its forecast for doubling aluminum demand between 2010 and 2020, though AA shares only crawled slightly higher in early after-market trading.
Earnings and revenue both grew year-over-year for Yum! Brands (NYSE:) as well. The company beat EPS estimates by 2 cents and raised its full-year earnings guidance, sending YUM up 4% after hours.
U.S. stocks fell during normal trading hours, though, as investors braced themselves for the start of what is still expected to be a gloomy quarter overall. The IMF also recently warned that the global slowdown is worsening. The news came on the heels of similarly glum warnings from economic bellwethers including Caterpillar (NYSE:) and FedEx (NYSE:).
For the day, the Nasdaq was sent 1.5% in the red to 3,065.02, the S&P dropped just under 1% to 1,441.49 and the Dow slid 0.9% to 13,473.99.
Tech stocks in particular fueled the markets’ downward movement on Tuesday — especially for the Nasdaq. Apple (NASDAQ:) for one, entered correction territory, trading down 10% from its all-time high and receiving a rating of “neutral” from Nomura. Intel (NASDAQ:) also reached a 52-week low with a loss of 2.7% on the day thanks to two negative analyst calls.
Energy stocks also saw solid gains. James River Coal (NASDAQ:) climbed by double digits, Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:) was up over 7% and Arch Coal (NYSE:), Gulfport Energy (NASDAQ:), Newfield Exploration (NYSE:), Peabody Energy (NYSE:) and countless others finished in the black.
Netflix (NASDAQ:) shares continued their wild ride as well, dropping nearly 9% after an analyst cut the video streaming company’s stock to “underperform” from “buy.” The fall erased the company’s double-digit Monday gains.
RadioShack (NYSE:) was able to shake the downward trend by soaring more than 12% after an Bank of America (NYSE:) Merrill Lynch analyst upgraded the stock to “buy” from “underperform.”
In gaming news, Glu Mobile (NASDAQ:) plummeted just under 20% even after announcing a partnership with Probability PLC, a gambling operator based in the U.K. The company has been suffering collateral damage from the struggles of rival Zynga (NASDAQ:).
Finally, Spectrum Brands (NYSE:) gained nearly 12% after announcing its plans to purchase Stanley Black & Decker’s (NYSE:) hardware and home improvement business for $1.4 billion.
Three Up
- BSD Medical Corp. (NASDAQ:): Up 73.7% (87 cents) to $2.05.
- Affymax (NASDAQ:): Up 5.4% ($1.21) to $23.76.
- The Bon-Ton Stores (NASDAQ:): Up 5.2% (55 cents) to $11.20.
Three Down
- Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:): Down 21.2% ($22.81) to $84.60.
- Vringo (NASDAQ:): Down 18.1% (98 cents) to $3.29.
- Vasco Data Security (NASDAQ:): Down 17.9% ($1.60) to $7.34.
Alyssa Oursler is an editorial assistant at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, she did not own a position at any of the aforementioned securities.
