Investing.com-- The S&P 500 closed sharply lower Wednesday, suffering its biggest one day lost since 2022 as tech stocks nosedived following underwhelming second-quarter earnings from heavyweights Alphabet and Tesla.
At 16:00 ET (20:00 GMT), the S&P 500 dropped 2.2%, its worst day since Dec. 15, 2022. The NASDAQ Composite fell 3.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 504 points, or 1.3%.
Tesla tumbles as profit disappoints, outlook sours
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock tumbled 12% after its second-quart8r earnings missed estimates amid falling vehicle sales.
Tesla’s profit margins fell to a five-year low as the electric vehicle maker aggressively cut prices to grapple with increased competition in key markets such as China.
Some on Wall Street continued to be optimistic on the stock despite the margin pressures amid optimism on future growth opportunities including robotaxis.
"While the margin weakness is weighing on the stock ... the next phase of the Tesla growth story is around autonomous, Robotaxis, and AI playing out for Musk & Co. in our view and that vision is on the doorstep," Wedbush said in a note.
Alphabet falls despite earnings beat; Seagate jumps
Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell nearly 5%, even as its second-quarter earnings beat expectations on increased advertising sales and strong demand for its cloud services.
Alphabet saw outperformance at its Search and Cloud businesses offset by "underperformance at YouTube, largely due to difficult comps, and continued weakness at Google Network," Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) said in a note.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) shrugged off the malaise in tech after rising 4% following fiscal Q4 results that topped Wall Street estimates, amid growing AI-led demand for data storage.
Fed's Dudley switches view, calls for rate cuts next week
Former New Federal Reserve President Bill Dudley on Wednesday called for the Fed to cut rates as soon as next week amid recession concerns, reversing his long-held view for the U.S. central bank to persist with its higher for longer rate regime.
"The facts have changed, so I’ve changed my mind. The Fed should cut, preferably at next week’s policy-making meeting," Dudley said ahead of the Fed's July 30-31 policy meeting.
Visa revenue falls short of estimates, AT&T deliveries upside surprise on earnings stage
Beyond tech, Visa (NYSE:V) reported third-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, but flowing payment volumes growth pointing to a weaker consumers weighed on sentiment and sent the stock about 4% lower.
"It feels like the marginal consumer is weakening, as US trends through the July 21 modestly decelerated with PV growth of 4% vs. 5%," RBC (TSX:RY) said in a Wednesday note.
Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) stock was flat after the chipmaker reported a solid earnings beat for the second quarter,å with adjusted earnings per share surpassing the estimates.
AT&T (NYSE:T) stock rose 5% after the telecoms giant exceeded market expectations for wireless subscriber additions in the second quarter, as its higher-tier unlimited plans attracted customers.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)