Investing.com-- The S&P 500 closed just shy of a record high Wednesday, underpinned by a Netflix-led surge in tech as well as a rally in AI stocks after President Donald Trump unveiled a major $500 billion project to boost domestic AI development.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (21:00 GMT), the S&P 500 index climbed 0.6% closing shy of its prior record close of 6,090.27, but hit an intraday record high of 6,100.81, the NASDAQ Composite rose 1.3%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 130 points, or 0.3%.
Netflix soars on strong Q4 results
The positive sentiment continued Wednesday, helped by Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares surged nearly 10% after the streaming giant reported a record-breaking 19 million new subscriber additions in the fourth quarter of 2024, far surpassing Wall Street’s expectations.
The surge in subscriptions was driven by a series of blockbuster content releases, including widely acclaimed new seasons and original films, as well as the rollout of regionally tailored programming that resonated with diverse global audiences.
Netflix also announced plans to raise prices for most subscription tiers in the US, Canada, Portugal, and Argentina, citing increased investments in programming.
"While massive subscriber growth was the primary driver in 2024, we expect price increases to drive revenue growth in 2025 and the ad tier to drive revenue higher in 2026," Wedbush said in a recent note.
AI stocks shine as Trump unveils $500 billion AI infrastructure project
A slew of AI-related stocks were also in the ascendency after President Trump, Softbank, OpenAI, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), unveiled a $500 billion joint venture, named Stargate. The tech heavyweights committed to deploy an initial $100 billion in the project and up to $500B over the next four years. Oracle and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) were up sharply in recent trade.
The collaboration aims to construct extensive AI data centers and electricity generation facilities in Texas over the next four years, significantly bolstering the nation's AI capabilities.
Corporate earnings impress
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) stock rose 1.9% after the consumer goods giant reported net sales in its fiscal second quarter that topped analysts' estimates, fueled in large part by strong demand in its key US market.
Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) stock closed 3.2% higher after the insurer beat estimates for fourth-quarter profit, as strength in its underwriting business cushioned a blow from elevated catastrophe losses.
United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) stock gave up gains to close 2.3% lower despite the carrier issueing better than expected fourth-quarter results, painting a upbeat outlook.
Additionally, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) stock fell 1.9%, weighed by a hefty dip in sales of its blockbuster psoriasis treatment Stelara, even as the pharmaceutical firm posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and sales.
(Peter Nurse, Ayushman Ojha contributed to this article.)