Earnings Reports Mixed Once Again

Investors were treated to another round of mixed earnings reports late Wednesday, with Apple and Motorola delivering blow-out results, eBay and Qualcomm meeting estimates, and Intel disappointing once again.

Apple shares jumped 7% in late trading after the company reported earnings of 54 cents a share, a dime better than analysts expected. Sales rose 24% to $4.37 billion, in line with estimates. Mac shipments of 1.327 million were better than expected, and the company shipped 8.1 million iPods in the quarter. Forward guidance was a little lighter than expected, but the company said it doesn't expect any changes to its results as a result of a stock option investigation.

eBay shares rose 4% in after-hours trading just for issuing no surprises. Sales rose 30% to $1.41 billion, matching estimates, and earnings of 24 cents a share were also in line with expectations. The company reiterated forward guidance too. Marketplace revenues were up 22%, payments revenues were up 39%, and communications sales climbed 26%. The company said it plans "marketing and pricing initiatives" to boost trading.

Intel, meanwhile, delivered yet another disappointment, missing sales estimates and lowering guidance once again. Earnings of 15 cents a share topped forecasts by a penny, but sales fell 13% to $8 billion, even more than the 10% decline analysts expected. Intel said it sees third-quarter sales of $8.3-$8.9 billion, below $9.1 billion estimates. Intel shares slipped 2% on the news.

Results were also mixed in the wireless sector. Motorola shares surged 6% on results that were well ahead of forecasts, while Qualcomm fell 6% on in-line results and lowered guidance.

Also after hours, Novellus rose 2% after beating estimates.

Stocks surged during the day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered congressional testimony that suggested the Fed will soon pause in its two-year rate-hike campaign.

IBM rose 2% on its results, while Yahoo plummeted 22% on its earnings report.

Unisys , ADC Telecom , Digitas and PLX fell on their results, while CDW and Keane rose on their numbers.

Rambus lost 14% on a stock option-related earnings restatement.

The Nasdaq soared 37 to 2080, the S&P 500 surged 23 to 1259, and the Dow soared 212 to 11,011. Volume rose to 2.7 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.42 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 28-4 on the NYSE, and 23-7 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 91% on the NYSE, and 76% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 76-55 on the NYSE, and 56-89 on the Nasdaq.