U.S. shares climbed following a batch of upbeat earnings reports and as Greece’s Parliament passed austerity measures needed to secure a fresh bailout. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) rose 0.7 percent to 2,122.51 at 11:47 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) advanced 0.3 percent to 18,097.07, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) added 1.1 percent to 5,154.58. Most followed shares included Netflix, Intel, Garmin, eBay, UnitedHealth, Radius Health, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Philip Morris, and Rio Tinto.
In technology shares, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), the top stock in the S&P 500 this year, rose 14.5 percent to $112.34 after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings in the second quarter as its subscribers leaped to 65.6 million, helped by hit original programming such as “orange Is the New Black” and “Daredevil”. The strongest growth was in international markets, where subscribers jumped 2.37 million to 23.3 million. That beat the 1.94 million average of five analysts’ estimates. Domestic subscribers grew by 900,000 to a total of 42.3 million, beating estimates of 636,000. Net income fell 63 percent to $26.3 million, or $0.06 per share, from $71 million, or $0.16 per share, a year earlier. Analysts were projecting a post-split profit of $0.04, the average of 32 estimates compiled by Capital IQ.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) rose 0.4 percent to $29.82. Intel earned $0.55 per share for its latest quarter, $0.05 above estimates, with revenue also beating forecasts. The chip maker's results were helped by growth in non-personal computer areas like data centers and chips for various devices.
Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) plunged 9.7 percent to $41.90 after the world's largest maker of car-navigation devices trimmed its full-year earnings forecast. Garmin cited the negative impact of the stronger dollar and an increasingly competitive fitness market.
eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) rose 4.3 percent to $66.14. EBay earned an adjusted 76 cents per share, beating estimates by 4 cents, though revenue was slightly below forecasts. The company also announced an addition of $1 billion to its share buyback program. Separately, EBay is near a deal to sell its enterprise business to a private equity consortium for about $900 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In health-care stocks, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) declined 2.4 percent to $122.89 even as the largest U.S. health insurer boosted its full-year forecast after saying that profit gained in the second quarter, helped by its booming Optum technology and services unit. The Minnetonka, Minnesota-based company raised its profit forecast for the full year to $6.25-$6.35 per share from $6.15-$6.30 on revenue of about $154 billion. Analysts on average expect a full-year profit of $6.26 per share on revenue for $143.61 billion, according to Capital IQ.
Radius Health (NASDAQ:RDUS) rose 2.7 percent to $77.42 after the science-driven biopharmaceutical company said an early study showed its drug was effective in shrinking tumors.
In financial shares, Citigroup (NYSE:C) advanced 2.9 percent $58.11 after delivering quarterly earnings that topped analysts' expectations, its highest quarterly profit in eight years. Net income rose to $4.85 billion, or $1.51 per share, in the April-to-June quarter, from $181 million, or $0.03 per share, a year earlier, when the bank was hit by a $3.8 billion legal charge. Adjusting for legal costs and some accounting items, Citi's net income rose 18 percent to $4.65 billion, or $1.45 per share, from $3.93 billion, or $1.24 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $19.5 billion from $19.38 billion a year ago. Wall Street expected Citigroup to deliver quarterly earnings per share of $1.34 on $19.11 revenue, according to consensus estimates from Capital IQ.
Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) fell 1.2 percent to $210.52 after saying earnings fell on higher legal costs. Goldman said it had earned a second-quarter profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.98 a share. The firm set aside $1.45 billion in provisions for “mortgage-related litigation and regulatory matters,” reducing its per-share earnings by $2.77. Analysts polled by Capital IQ had expected earnings of $3.89 a share. The results fell short of the profit of $2.04 billion, or $4.10 a share, the bank reported in the same period of 2014.
In other stocks, Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) added 3.3 percent to $85.36 after the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco company posted quarterly profit that topped estimates.
ADRs of Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) gained 1.1 percent to $40.93 even as the miner scaled down its forecast for iron ore shipments for the year, due to the impact of severe weather.