Dow Futures

A whopping five Dow (INDEX: ^DJI  ) components plus Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL  ) reported earnings today.

Despite beating analysts’ earnings estimates with same-store sales growing an incredible 7.5%, McDonald’s was the second worst-performing stock in the Dow today. Shares had been nearing a 52-week high, at one point trading for 20 times earnings in January. Investors were expecting a lot out of McDonald’s, and even beating analysts apparently wasn’t enough to sate their hunger.

Last year it was catastrophe losses plaguing Travelers; this quarter it was underwriting and investment weakness. While analysts had expected earnings to plunge, the 31% decline in net income was worse than expected. And there’s more potential bad news for those investments: the IMF is lowering its global growth forecast today, and the likelihood of a Greek default appears to be increasing.

Verizon posted negative earnings due to pension charges. But adjusting for the charge, and in spite of a healthy 1.2 million iPhone subscriber net growth, Verizon came in just below estimates. Paradoxically, as has been the case with smartphone providers in the past, the earnings culprit may have been their operational success; heavy iPhone subsidy costs bit into Verizon’s bottom line.

But the biggest earnings shocker of the day was Apple. Sales of iPhones, which now make up the majority of Apple’s revenue, continue to skyrocket. Apple sold 37 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, during which it also introduced the iPhone 4S. That helped push revenue up 73% to a record $46.3 billion. Between the spike in sales and a huge boost in margins, Apple was able to once again blow away analysts’ earnings estimates.

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After a three-day slumber last weekend, the Dow Jones Industrials Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) moved higher throughout the week, but there were a couple of blue chips left behind during the closing session.

To kick things off, GE (NYSE: GE  ) reported earnings before the opening bell, and all eyes were on the conglomerate to provide a positive perspective on the economy. Instead, GE showed up with a mixed bag, beating analysts’ earnings estimates but falling short on revenue. When the market closed, GE managed to escape unscathed, remaining perfectly even for the day.

Other Dow companies like Home Depot (NYSE: HD  ) and American Express (NYSE: AXP  ) were not so lucky. Although Home Depot announced it would be hiring 70,000 associates recently to gear-up for spring, the home and garden retailer’s shares were down about 2%. A recent article in Forbes magazine suggested that that the stock’s current price already reflects an exceedingly optimistic view of housing going forward. Perhaps the market questioned its enthusiasm on this news.

American Express also finished down about 2% as the company missed revenue expectations during its late Thursday earnings call. The financial services company said its loan-loss provisions rose from the prior year. On the other hand, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) posted decent results this morning, further emphasizing the two divergent paths for many financial firms. Our analysts made this all the more evident in a roundtable discussion posted earlier today.

On the whole, the Dow edged upward 0.76%, unfazed by some of the lukewarm earnings announcements. As investors, it’s important to stay tuned to your company’s earnings calls, but understand that the market’s movements are sometimes hard to interpret.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) is rallying for a third day in a row along with worldwide markets as jobless claims fell to their lowest level in four years and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) reported positive earnings. At 1:30 p.m. EST, the Dow was up 39 points to 12,617. The S&P 500 was up 7 points to 1,315.

After reporting positive earnings this morning, Bank of America is today’s top Dow stock. The company is leading the pack, up 4.1% to $7.07. While the earnings weren’t stupendous, they were enough to make Bank of America profitable over the past year.

Runner-up so far today is Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO  ) , up 2% to $19.93. The stock is responding to F5 Networks‘ (Nasdaq: FFIV  ) strong earnings report this morning, which has pushed the stock up more than 13%. Investors in the networking company have been worried about low spending by telecoms and spending cuts by the government. A competitor beating earnings estimates is seen as a good sign for the industry.

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