US stocks were little changed on Thursday as mixed first-quarter results from companies gave investors few clues on the outlook for US earnings. While shares of Netflix surged following blockbuster results, limiting losses on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, shares of SanDisk slumped following a weak revenue outlook that added to concerns about the pace of top-line improvement.
First-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to have declined 2.6 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data, hurt by low oil prices, a strong dollar and extreme weather in the eastern United States. Revenue is forecast down 2.8 percent from a year ago. Netflix was the S&P's biggest percentage gainer, up 15 percent at $544.80, a day after it added more subscribers than projected in the first quarter. Volume was more than three times its 10-day moving average.
At 1:04 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.97 points, or 0.02 percent, to 18,109.64, the S&P 500 lost 0.8 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,105.83 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.04 points, or 0.06 percent, to 5,007.98.
Goldman Sachs fell 0.5 percent to $200.09 despite better-than-expected earnings. Both are Dow components.