According to final results at the close, the Dow Jones index advanced 0.71% to 35,160.79 points.
The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, dropped 1.22% to 13,453.07 points and the S&P 500, positive for most of the session, concluded below the balance at 4,459.45 points (-0.06 %).
"The big story of the day was Netflix," summed up Art Hogan of National Securities.
“It was a day centered around corporate results and Netflix absorbed all the oxygen of the session,” commented the analyst.
The title of the pioneer of streaming crashed spectacularly on Wednesday, losing 35.12% to 226.19 dollars, unheard of for ten years, the valuation of the American giant melting by 50 billion dollars, according to the tool. financial analysis Factset.
Netflix surprised investors on Tuesday by announcing after the market closed a lower profit in the first quarter, and especially the flight of 200,000 subscribers while the streaming pioneer hoped to gain 2.5 million.
This is the first time in ten years that the group has lost subscribers and also the first time that the stock has fallen in such proportion.
This dragged down other entertainment groups like Disney (-5.55%), Roku (-6.17%) and Warner Bros. Discovery (-6.04%).
Netflix blamed the erosion of its customer base in the past quarter on the suspension of its service in Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The group also suffered from the backlash of the upturn in subscriptions caused by the confinements linked to Covid-19.
This influx of subscribers dried up with the resumption of activity.
In addition, the fierce competition that has flourished in streaming and inflation have weighed on the performance of the group, which is now considering using advertising funding.
"Netflix indicates that it expects another 2 million fewer subscribers in the 2nd quarter and is beginning to find solutions to charge the 10 million users who benefit from it for free by sharing access codes", underlined Kenneth Leon , an analyst for CFRA, which lowered its share price estimate.
Housing prices
The Dow Jones, on the other hand, was supported, before losing momentum before the close, by good results announced by index heavyweights like Procter & Gamble (+2.45% to 163 dollars).
The manufacturer of Gillette razors and Pampers nappies announced on Wednesday a strong increase in quarterly sales and better than expected thanks to the rise in prices of the products that the manufacturer markets.
IBM, another member of the blue chip index, climbed 7.10% to $138.32 having reported quarterly profit above expectations on Tuesday after the close, thanks in part to more activity in its cloud offering ( remote computing).
Among the indicators, sales of existing homes fell in March in the United States, for the second month in a row, buyers being penalized by inflation to which is now added the rise in interest rates, while housing prices continue to rise.
According to the National Federation of American Realtors (NAR), home resales fell 2.7% from February and 4.5% from March 2021.
The median price of a house reached $375,300, a record and 15% more than last year at the same time.
On a positive note for equities, bond rates eased, with yields on 10-year US Treasury bills slipping to 2.84% from 2.93% the previous day.
Paypal action stood out by falling 8.45% to 94.90 dollars, close to its lowest level in a year, following a downgrade by analysts.
The title of Just Eat Takeaway.com rose 1.93% to 26.60 dollars.
The group, which has owned the Grubhub meal delivery company since last year, bought for $ 7.3 billion, plans to resell it while delivery orders have been falling since the end of the confinements.
"Management is currently considering the introduction of a strategic partner and/or the partial or full sale of Grubhub," management said on Wednesday.
Tesla was up almost 5% in post-trade electronic trading, after losing almost as much in session.
The electric vehicle manufacturer announced after the close that it posted a profit of $ 3.3 billion in the 1st quarter, more than expected.
© 2022 AFP