All three major stock indexes closed higher on Wednesday, rebounding from declines earlier in the session as investors brushed off disappointing Alphabet earnings and weighed the prospect of future interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 317.24 points, or 0.71%, to 44,873.28, the S&P 500 gained 23.60 points, or 0.39%, to 6,061.48 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 38.32 points, or 0.19%, to 19,692.33.

Market Movers

Alphabet - Alphabet, the parent company of search giant Google, reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates but the stock fell 7.3% after revenue of $96.47 billion missed forecasts of $96.68 billion. Revenue at Alphabet’s cloud business during the quarter of $11.96 billion, up 30% from a year earlier, also missed expectations of $12.19 billion. The company said it plans to invest $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025 as it expands its generative artificial-intelligence initiatives. 

AMD - AMD posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.09 a share that edged past estimates of $1.08. Revenue was $7.7 billion, above analysts’ expectations of $7.5 billion, but a jump in data-center revenue of 69% to $3.9 billion was shy of projections of $4.1 billion. The chip maker forecast first-quarter sales of $7.1 billion at the midpoint of its range versus estimates of $7 billion. AMD shares fell 6.3%.

Apple - Apple declined 0.1% following a report from Bloomberg that said China’s antitrust watchdog was considering launching a probe into the tech giant’s policies and the fees it charges app developers. The State Administration for Market Regulation has been examining Apple’s policies, which include taking a cut of as much as 30% on in-app spending, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Disney - Walt Disney fell 2.4%. The media and entertainment giant posted fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and affirmed its full-year outlook. The company said the number of Disney+ subscribers fell by 700,000 to 125 million.

Uber - Uber Technologies was down 7.6%. The ride-hailing company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $11.96 billion, up from $9.94 billion and better than expectations of $11.76 billion. For the first quarter, the company said it anticipatesgross bookingsto grow 17% to 21% from a year earlier, translating to a range of roughly $42 billion to $43.5 billion. At the midpoint, the forecast was below analysts’ expectations of $43.5 billion.

Palantir - Palantir Technologies  fell 2.4% as tech stocks broadly declined on Wednesday. Shares of the AI software company finished up 24% on Tuesday at a record closing high of $103.83. The stock also set anintraday record high Tuesdayof $106.91 after Palantir topped Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations.

Super Micro Computer - Super Micro Computer jumped 8% after the server maker announced it fully ramped up its artificial-intelligence data center with Nvidia’s Blackwell platform, the chip maker’s recently released new graphics processing unit.

FMC - FMC plunged 33.5% after the agricultural services company said it expects first-quarter sales of between $750 million and $800 million, a decline of 16% at the midpoint from a year earlier. Analysts had been anticipating revenue of $957 million. “Volume is expected to be lower as customers in many countries continue to reduce inventory and purchases are made cautiously by retailers and growers in an environment of lower commodity prices,” FMC said in a statement.

Novo Nordisk - U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk rose 3.8% after the Danish drugmaker reportedfourth-quarter earningsthat beat analysts’ expectations but forecast slower growth ahead. Novo Nordisk is the maker the widely popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

Alibaba, JD.com, PDD Holdings - Shares of Alibaba listed in the U.S. fell 3%, JD.com declined 3.3%, and PDD Holdings, the owner of popular Chinese shopping app Temu, was down 3.4%. The shares traded lower even as the U.S. Postal Service said it would resume accepting parcels from China and Hong Kong after temporarily suspending the service.

Chipotle Mexican Grill - Chipotle Mexican Grill was down 2.6% after the fast-casual restaurant chain posted solid fourth-quarter earnings but revenue of $2.8 billion missed analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. Chipotle also reduced its fiscal year same-store sales outlook to an increase in the low to mid-single digits.

Mattel - Mattel surged 15.3% after the toy maker reported adjusted earnings of 35 cents a share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $1.65 billion, topping analysts’ estimates on both metrics, and said it expects adjusted earnings of $1.66 to $1.72 a share in 2025, higher than estimates of $1.57. 

Workday - Shares of Workday rose 6.3% after the human-resources software company said it would becutting about 1,750 jobs, or 8.5% of its workforce, under a restructuring plan. CEO Carl Eschenbach, in a letter to employees, said “increasing demand for AI has the potential to drive a new era of growth for Workday,” which means the company has to “make some changes to better align our resources with our customers’ evolving needs.”

Johnson Controls - Johnson Controls jumped 11.3% after the maker of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning machinery boosted its fiscal-year earnings predictions and named Danaher executive Joakim Weidemanis as CEO.

Market News

China Weighs Probe Into Apple’s App Store Fees, Practices

China’s antitrust watchdog is laying the groundwork for a potential probe into Apple Inc.’s policies and the fees it charges app developers, part of a broader push by Beijing that risks becoming another flashpoint in the country’s trade war with the US, Bloomberg reported.

The State Administration for Market Regulation is examining Apple’s policies, which include taking a cut of as much as 30% on in-app spending and barring external payment services and stores, people familiar with the matter said. Agency officials have spoken with Apple executives and app developers since last year, said the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive moves.

The conversations stem from long-running disputes between Apple and developers such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd. over iOS store policies — a source of tension between the US company and regulators worldwide. While Beijing has since 2024 targeted the practices of US tech firms from Nvidia Corp. to most recently Alphabet Inc.’s Google, regulators may not formally move against Apple if the current conversations go well.

US Postal Service U-Turn on China Parcels Sows Confusion Among Retailers, Shippers

The U.S. Postal Service said on Wednesday it would again accept parcels from China and Hong Kong, reversing a 12-hour suspension afterPresident Donald Trump scrapped an exemption used by retailers including Temu, Shein, and Amazon to ship low-value packages duty-free to the United States.

The about-face added to the growing confusion among retailers and express shipping firms over how to deal with Trump's new 10% tariff on imports from China and his closure of the "de minimis" duty exemption for packages valued at under $800, with the stated aim of stopping the flow of fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the United States.

Major international shippers promised to maintain deliveries, but disruptions may still occur as the USPS works out how tariffs on small packages would be collected in tandem with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department.