The S&P 500 rose Wednesday as Netflix led a broader rally among technology names, pushing the broader market to new heights.
The benchmark S&P 500 eked out a gain of 0.08% to 4,868.55, clinching a new all-time closing record. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.36% to 15,481.92, helped by the tech rally. It marked the fifth straight day of wins for both.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 99.06 points, or 0.26%, to 37,806.39, hurt by declines of more than 2% in Verizon and 3M a day after each reported earnings.
Netflix shares surged more than 10% after the streamer said its total subscriber count hit an all-time high of 260.8 million. Revenue topped analysts' estimates, as did current-quarter earnings guidance.
The earnings report "is a pretty decent tailwind," said Charlie Ripley, senior strategist at Allianz Investment Management. More broadly, "people thought things were fairly balanced, or maybe even positioning for more downside risks, as growth in the economy or activity in the economy continues to decline. But what we've kind of seen is things have been more resilient."
Elsewhere, Microsoft rose nearly 1%, sending its market value briefly higher than $3 trillion for the first time. Meta advanced 1.4%, bringing the Facebook parent's market cap above $1 trillion.
Both gains added to mega-cap tech's strong performance in 2024, which have propelled the S&P 500 to record highs and confirmed a new bull market. Communication services and information technology stocks boosted the broad index on Wednesday, up 1.2% and 0.8%, respectively.
Beyond technology, AT&T slipped about 3% on lower-than-expected earnings. DuPont De Nemours tumbled 14% after preannouncing weak fourth-quarter results and issuing disappointing first-quarter guidance.
Earnings reports will remain a focus of traders, with Tesla, Las Vegas Sands and IBM due after the bell. Of the more than 16% of S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly financials thus far in the earnings season, over 71% have surpassed Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet.
"The markets are very bullish," said Larry Tentarelli, founder of the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. And "the key thing right now is the reaction to earnings."