Although traders were still cautious by the opening, Wall Street moved higher this morning on rumors of a possible six-month extension for the debt talks going on in Greece. The market wavered a bit after the Germany’s finance minister refused to agree to a new Greek debt program, but then recovered to finish strongly.
Also weighing on the markets were wholesale inventories, which were up 0.1% but failed to meet analysts’ expectations of 0.2% growth; and a 0.4% decline in sales, suggesting that fourth-quarter GDP could be revised lower.
That was interesting, considering that a couple of when the Federal Open Market Committee meets in June.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8%, while the broader S&P 500 was 1.1% higher and the Nasdaq Composite was the strongest of the three, up 1.3%.
Technology, utilities, healthcare and cyclical consumer goods were the strongest sectors, while oil gave up some of its recent gains. The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), and
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (NYSE:HOT) are three large cap stocks that stood out today.
The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO)
KO stock was a knockout today, up almost 4% in the morning before falling back an increase of 2.8% by the closing bell. The No. 1 beverage manufacturer posted earnings of 44 cents per share, topping market expectations by 2 cents, although earnings fell 4.3% from a year ago.
Revenue, which also fell 1.5% to $10.9 billion, just beat analysts’ expectations.
Coca Cola also said that 2015 will have a “slight positive on net revenue growth,” although foreign currency exchange rates could reduce its results.
KO stock has been somewhat of a laggard in recent months, range-bound between $40 and $45. The stock closed today at $42.20.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)
GM stock rose more than 4% on 26.5 million shares on news that shareholder activist Harry Wilson, who has the backing of several investment firms that own 2.1% of GM’s stock, . Wilson told the company that he wants GM to commit to completing an $8 billion share buyback.
GM stock topped $40 a share in December 2013, but has not been able to get back to that level since. However, GM stock has doubled over the last 2 1/2 years, and recently announced a 20% increase in its quarterly dividend to 36 cents per share.
So one wonders why the shareholders would be putting the big squeeze on the company at this point.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (HOT)
HOT was a hot stock today, after reporting 97 cents per share, up 8% year over year and easily beating the Zacks consensus estimate of 77 cents.
Revenue decreased 1% to $1.5 billion, narrowly mising the estimate, but the Street gave that a pass. Instead, the Street was also enthused that HOT has into a new company that will be publicly traded.
As a result, HOT stock was up more than 6% on 8.1 million shares.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
