NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 20, 2017 / The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index fell Wednesday as investors digested the latest batch of corporate earnings. The Dow declined 0.58 percent to close at 20,404.49, while the S&P 500, which traded in the green for most of the day, fell 0.17 percent to close at 2,338.17. A surge by the tech sector helped pushed the Nasdaq Composite Index up 0.27 percent to close at 5,863.03.

Data from Thomson Reuters shows that out of the 54 S&P 500 companies who have reported earnings through Wednesday morning, 75 percent have surpassed expectations, topping the average of 71 percent over the past 4 quarters. The profit of S&P 500 companies is expected to grow by 10.8 percent in the first quarter of 2017.

RDI Initiates Coverage on:

Johnson & Johnson
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=JNJ

United Continental Holdings Inc.
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=UAL

Johnson & Johnson's shares declined 0.37 percent to close at $121.37 a share on Wednesday. The stock traded between $121.11 and $122.28 on volume of 6.99 million shares traded. The company reported net earnings were $4.42 billion, or $1.61 a share, for the first quarter of 2017, compared with $4.46 billion, or $1.59 a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.83, which topped the FactSet consensus of $1.77. Revenues totaled $17.77 billion in the first quarter, up from $17.48 billion a year ago, but short of the FactSet consensus of $18.02 billion. Shares of Johnson & Johnson have gained approximately 5.35 percent year-to-date.

"Johnson & Johnson's first-quarter results are in line with our expectations and we are confident we will achieve the full-year financial guidance we established at the beginning of the year," said Alex Gorsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Access RDI's Johnson & Johnson Research Report at:
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=JNJ

United Continental's shares gained 2.27 percent to close at $69.29 a share on Wednesday. The stock traded between $67.77 and $69.79 on volume of 6.77 million shares traded. United Continental reported a net income of $96 million, or $0.31 a share, in the first quarter of 2017, compared with a net income of $313 million, or $0.88 a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings were $129 million, or 41 cents a share, in the first quarter. Revenues grew 2.7 percent year-over-year to $8.4 billion in the first quarter of 2017. Analysts' expectations called for adjusted earnings of $0.38 a share on revenues of $8.38 billion. Shares of United Continental have fallen approximately 4.93 percent year-to-date.

On Wednesday, Raymond James raised its price target on the stock to $87 from $84. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock.

Access RDI's United Continental Research Report at:
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=UAL

Our Actionable Research on Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.

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SOURCE: RDInvesting.com