US stocks surge to a record on blockbuster tech earnings – Business Insider

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  • US stock rose to an all-time high on Friday, fueled by better-than-expected second-quarter numbers from Twitter and Alphabet.
  • Alphabet soared as much as 12% after the tech giant posted sales that beat Wall Street forecasts.
  • Shares of Twitter surged by as much as 11% after the company posted its strongest user growth in two years.
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US stocks climbed to new highs on Friday after better-than-expected earnings from Alphabet and Twitter. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite indexes both reached all-time records.

Alphabet, Google’s parent, rose as much as 12% after posting second-quarter sales that were higher than Wall Street anticipated. Revenue came in at $31.7 billion, compared with the $30.84 billion analysts predicted. The company also announced a $25 billion stock-repurchase program.

Twitter jumped as much as 11% after its second-quarter financial results beat estimates and the company posted its strongest user growth in two years. The social-media platform generated $841 million in revenue during the quarter, outpacing analyst forecasts of $829 million.

Here’s a look at Friday’s closing numbers:

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Shares of T-Mobile and Sprint rose after the US Department of Justice gave T-Mobile conditional approval to purchase the rival carrier. The settlement would require T-Mobile to sell Sprint’s prepaid-phone businesses and wireless spectrum to Dish so it could establish a fourth wireless-phone carrier.

Starbucks climbed 9%, to a record high, after the coffee chain raised its full-year earnings outlook for the second quarter in a row. The company said it expected to generate earnings per share of $2.80 to $2.82 in 2019, up from a range of $2.75 to $2.79.

Within the S&P 500, these were the largest gainers:

And the largest decliners:

Further, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said US gross domestic product slowed from April to June. GDP rose by 2.1% during the period, a decrease from the 3.1% gain in the previous quarter.

The communications-services sector rose by 3.3%, recording the largest gain in the S&P 500 index. Energy fell by 0.5% and industrials by 0.2%.