The US stock market rose to more records Friday after Apple, Estee Lauder, and others joined the list of companies delivering fatter profits for the start of the year than analysts expected.
- The Dow fell 152.87 points, or 0.3%, to 49,499.27, but closed the week 0.5% higher.
- The S&P 500 rose 21.11 points, or 0.3%, to 7,230.12, ending the week up 0.9%. It added to its all-time high set Thursday.
- The Nasdaq rose 222.13 points, or 0.9%, to 25,114.44, up 1.1% for the week.
Easing oil prices also helped to steady the stock markets around the world that were still
open on the May Day holiday, the
AP reports.
Apple led the way after the iPhone seller reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Because it's one of Wall Street's biggest stocks in terms of overall size, Apple's rally of 3.3% was by far the strongest force lifting the S&P 500. Stock prices generally follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and US companies have been blowing past expectations for earnings in the first three months of 2026. That's even with the war with Iran and high oil prices souring confidence for many households. Estee Lauder's stock climbed 3.4% after the company reporting better earnings than expected, thanks in part to strength in China, and it raised some of its upcoming financial forecasts.
Sandisk jumped 8.3% after the maker of storage for computers blew past analysts' expectations for profit thanks in part to voracious demand from data centers. Colgate-Palmolive added 2.2% after likewise delivering bigger results than expected, though CEO Noel Wallace said it expects "volatile macroeconomic conditions and slower category growth to continue in 2026." A little more than a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported already, and 84% of them have topped analysts' estimates, according to FactSet. The index is on track to deliver roughly 15% growth in profit from a year earlier.
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