Dot-Com Woes, But Europe Still Sets the Tone (NFLX, DD, MMM, DGX, AMZN, CRYXF)

Weak consumer confidence, a so-so day of earnings, and more fears coming out of Europe sent stocks lower on the day. With a lackluster report from Amazon.com (AMZN) after the bell, meanwhile, the market could be in for another rough day tomorrow depending on the tone from Europe, which still remains the biggest driver of global equity markets. Despite some hiccups, though, we think overall earnings season has been going well, and still remain cautiously bullish heading into year-end.

The Gold and Silver Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Crystallex International (CRYXF) with a 7% gain. The Dotcom Retailer Stocks Index was the day’s worst performing tickerspy Index, with Netflix (NFLX) down -35%.

Stocks fell on the day, with the Dow sliding -207 points to 11,707. The S&P dropped -25 points to 1,229, while the Nasdaq tumbled -61 points to 2,638. Oil rose $1.90 to $93.17 a barrel, while gold climbed $48.10 to $1,700.40 an ounce.

In economic news, the Conference Board said consumer confidence fell to 39.8 in October from 46.4 in September, well below the October reading of 46.0 economists expected. That’s the lowest level in 30 months. Elsewhere, S&P/Case Shiller 20-city housing index saw flat pricing compared with the month before on a seasonally adjusted basis, below expectations for a gain of 0.1%.

In earnings news, shares of Netflix plunged -34.9% after the company said it lost more subscribers between the second and third quarters than expected. Netflix had about 23.8 million U.S. subscribers at the end of September, a loss of -800,000 from June. Earlier this month, the company said it expected to lose -600,000 subscribers after raising prices. Netflix said its third-quarter profit rose to $62.5 million, or $1.16, per share, from $38 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier as revenue rose 49% to $822 million. Analysts had expected a profit of 96 cents a share on revenue of $813 million. Netflix forecast a fourth-quarter profit of 36-70 cents a share on revenue of $841-$875 million. Analysts were expecting $1.08 a share on revenue of $920 million.

Chemical company DuPont (DD) said its third-quarter profit jumped 23% to $452 million, or 48 cents a share, from $367 million, or 40 cents, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Delware-based DuPont earned 69 cents a share. Revenue rose 32% to $9.24 billion. Analysts had expected a profit of 56 cents on sales of $8.88 billion. The company raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast to $3.97-$4.05 a share from $3.90-$4.05. Shares of Dupont fell -2.5%. Nearly 100 pros held DuPont in their portfolios at the end of Q2 and nearly 1,000 tickerspy members own the stock in their portfolios.

Shares of Dow component 3M (MMM) slid -6.3% after the Minnesota-based company lowered its full-year profit forecast to $5.85-$5.95 a share from $6.10-$6.25. 3M’s core sales growth estimate was lowered to 3.0-4.0% from growth of 6.0-7.5%. 3M said its third-quarter profit fell -2% to $1.09 billion, or $1.52 per share, from $1.11 billion, or $1.53 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 10% to $7.53 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.61 per share on revenue of $7.78 billion.

Shares of Quest Diagnostics (DGX) surged 10.8% after the company said CEO Surya Mohapatra would step down. The news sparked rumors the company could now be a takeover target. Quest also boosted its quarterly dividend 70% to 17 cents a share. Third-quarter earnings, meanwhile, fell to $171.8 million, or $1.07 per share, from $198.0 million, or $1.13 per share, a year ago, while revenue rose 2% to $1.9 billion. Adjusted EPS came in at $1.13, 2 cents above the consensus. Ten pros counted Quest Diagnostics among their top holdings at the end of Q2 and more than 130 tickerspy members own the stock in their portfolios.

Tags: AMZN, CRYXF, DD, DGX, MMM, NFLX