Mid-Day Market Update: iRobot Surges On Strong Q2 Results; Wabash Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.48 percent to 21,716.49 while the NASDAQ gained 0.15 percent to 6,422.04. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.06 percent to 2,478.69.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Telecommunications services shares climbed by 0.69 percent in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included AT&T Inc. T, and TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) TSU.

In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares fell 0.45 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included LSB Industries, Inc. LXU, down 26 percent, and Tupperware Brands Corporation TUP, down 9 percent.

Top Headline

Ford Motor Company F posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.

Ford posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.56 per share, on revenue of $39.85 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.43 per share on sales of $37.28 billion.

Ford projects full-year adjusted earnings of $1.65 to $1.85 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $1.51 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc TTPH shares shot up 12 percent to $7.72 as the company reported 'positive' topline Phase 3 IGNITE4 results. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Tetraphase Pharma from Hold to Buy.

Shares of iRobot Corporation IRBT got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $104.90 after the company posted upbeat results for its second quarter and issued a strong FY17 forecast. iRobot also agreed to acquire privately-held Robopolis SAS.

Smart & Final Stores Inc SFS shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $9.23. Smart & Final Stores posted Q2 adjusted earnings of $0.14 per share on revenue of 1.08 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN

LSB Industries, Inc. LXU shares dropped 26 percent to $7.88. LSB Industries posted Q2 loss of $0.53 per share on revenue of $122.9 million and issued an update on its strategic alternatives review process. The company’s board decided to terminate the formal sale process portion of its strategic review.

Shares of Wabash National Corporation WNC were down 13 percent to $20.71 after the company reported downbeat Q2 earnings.

Triumph Group Inc TGI was down, falling around 15 percent to $28.40 after the company posted downbeat Q2 earnings and issued a weak forecast for the year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.69 percent to $48.22 while gold traded down 0.30 percent to $1,254.70.

Silver traded down 0.59 percent Wednesday to $16.445, while copper rose 1 percent to $2.875.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.54 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.42 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.43 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.59 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.21 percent.

Economics

New-home sales were rose 0.8 percent to an annual rate of 610,000 in June. However, economists were expecting a 615,000 annual pace.

Domestic crude supplies slipped 7.2 million barrels for the week ended July 21, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts expected a drop of 2.5 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles declined 1 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles slipped 1.9 million barrels last week.

The Treasury will auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.