After Market: Blue Chips Rise But Most Stocks End Lower

Filed under: Technology, Earnings, Retail, Market News, Automotive Industry

Stocks surrendered early gains to end mixed, and shares of the luxury carmaker Tesla hit a big pothole.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rose 32 points. They briefly topped the record high set last week before retreating. The Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) slipped 2 points, and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) fell 16 points.

Many of the volatile Internet stocks steadied today. Google (GOOG) edged higher, Amazon.com (AMZN) fell 1.5 percent and Twitter gained back 4 percent after Morgan Stanley (MS) upped its rating on the stock to "neutral."

Shares of Tesla Motors (TSLA) may need a tune-up after dropping 11 percent. The company posted a quarterly loss and warned that costs will continue to rise for new vehicle development and its planned battery factory. Telsa shares are well off their high, but have still more than tripled in price over the past year.

Elon Musk is the founder and chairman of Tesla. One of his other companies is SolarCity (SCTY), which fared much better. It gained 12 percent despite posting a loss.

Coffee-roaster Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR) was also hot, jumping 13 percent. It beat earnings expectations and expanded a partnership agreement with J.M. Smucker (SJM), owner of the Folger's brand. This is another stock that's been a standout gainer over the past year, up 74 percent.

Also higher on earnings news, 21st Century Fox (FOXA) gained 6.5 percent, helped by the broadcast of the Super Bowl in February. And the online real estate firm Zillow (Z) rose 4 percent after topping expectations.

On the downside:

Dish Networks (DISH) fell 4 percent as net fell from a year ago;
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) fell 6.5 percent as its loss widened. The casino company has not posted a profit since 2009.
Dean Foods (DF) lost 5 percent after posting a loss;
Gulfport Energy (GPOR) slid 19 percent after falling short of expectations.

Elsewhere, Ford (F) rose more than 2 percent after saying it plans to buy back up to $1.8 billion of its stock.

Costco (COST) led retailers, rising 2.5 percent on a solid sales gain in April. L Brands (LB) gained nearly 5 percent, and Zumiez (ZUMZ) zoomed ahead by 11 percent.

Among airline stocks, United Airlines (UAL) rose 1 percent and American Airlines (AAL) gained 2.5 percent.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

What to Watch Friday:

At 10 a.m. Eastern time, the Commerce Department releases wholesale trade inventories for March, and the Labor Department releases its job openings and labor turnover survey for March.

These major companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial results.