U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday morning after the midterm elections found Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives and Republicans, the Senate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 370 points, or 1.47%, to 26,011, the S&P 500 index gained 1.59% to 2,799 and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.14% to 7,533.
Shares of Dean Foods Co. (DF, Financial) plummeted more than 25% on Wednesday after the company posted a third-quarter loss of 28 cents per share on $1.9 billion in revenue, reflecting a 2.1% year-over-year decline. The company fell 22 cents short of earnings estimates, but beat revenue expectations by $60 million.
“The third quarter marked an unprecedented level of activity as we closed and consolidated seven plants, redistributing the volume into 23 other locations within six weeks," CEO Ralph Scozzafava said. "This work contributed to a very challenging quarter as these closures were complicated and we made it our top mission to prioritize service to our customers, above all else.”
Currently, the company expects earnings of 13 cents per share on $1.90 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter and earnings of 38 cents per share on $7.68 billion in revenue for the year.
The stock has lost more than 30% on a year-to-date basis, versus the S&P 500's gain of more than 3%.
Gainers
- Davita Inc. (DVA, Financial)
- Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC, Financial)
- Centene Corp. (CNC, Financial)
- Abiomed Inc. (ABMD, Financial)
- Humana Inc. (HUM, Financial)
Losers
- Coty Inc. (COTY, Financial)
- EQT Corp. (EQT, Financial)
- Viacom Inc. (VIAB, Financial)
- Nordstrom Inc. (JWN, Financial)
- Gap Inc. (GPS, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1.09%, France's CAC 40 jumped 1.24%, Germany's Dax gained 0.83% and Spain's IBEX 35 advanced 1.99%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.28%, India’s BSE Sensex jumped 0.70%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.10% and China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.68%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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