Intel's Earnings Beat Can't Save the Stock From Crashing

It's a bit of a feast-or-famine day on Wall Street as earnings drive stocks today, but even big movers haven't stirred the markets as a whole. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up just 0.11% as of 3:20 p.m. EST, and the S&P 500 is flat.

Intel's shares have tanked 6.7% today after the company reported earnings last night. Earnings per share of $0.48 beat estimates by $0.03, and revenue of $13.5 billion was in line with estimates, but investors are still worried about the future. Intel didn't have any bullish remarks about the state of the PC market, and it is planning to increase capital spending to $13 billion next year from $11 billion this year -- a bit of a shock to investors. The increase in spending has investors worried that Intel won't keep up its lofty 4.1% dividend yield, especially if it can't quickly make big inroads into smartphones and tablets.

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American Express is having a rough time, too, although it's only down 2% on the day. The company reported net income of $637 million, or $0.56 per share -- just more than half of the $1.2 billion it earned in the fourth quarter of last year. On the plus side, spending by American Express cardholders did increase 8% in the quarter.

It wasn't all bad news on the earnings front today. General Electric's earnings rose 8% to $4 billion in the fourth quarter, and the stock is up 3.3% today. GE beat revenue and earnings estimates and also showed strong growth in the aviation and health care markets.

These big moves have essentially canceled each other out, leaving the Dow and the S&P flat.

The article Intel's Earnings Beat Can't Save the Stock From Crashing originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium manages an account that owns shares of Intel. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings, or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw. The Motley Fool recommends American Express and Intel. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company and Intel. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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