All three major U.S. indices are in the red in afternoon trading on Tuesday as falling crude prices continue to weigh heavily on the market.
The S&P 500 is down 1.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1.7%, and as is the Nasdaq.
The natural gas and crude oil ETFs, UGAZ and UWTI, are leading the market down, declining 10.1% and 20.8%, respectively.
Twitter (TWTR) is another one of the major decliners today, falling some 9% on heavy volume as analysts at Stifel cut the company's rating to Sell after analyst Scott Devitt said that "Twitter is a product that has never fully developed into a sustainable public company due to either poor strategy, poor execution, or that it was never destined to be one."
Sirius XM (SIRI) shares are also lagging today following the release of the company's fourth-quarter earnings results before the opening bell. Sirius reported earnings per share of $0.03, but compared to last year, profit dropped to $134.6 million from $143.1 million. Revenue of $1.2 billion was the same as expectations. Year over year, sales grew 10%.
Blue-chip tech companies Facebook (FB) and Alphabet (GOOGL) are leading the market today, with both gaining from recent earnings beats.
Alphabet, a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust portfolio, overtook fellow AAP holding Apple (AAPL) as the world's most valuable company in after-hours trading Monday following the release of the company's fourth-quarter results. The company reported a record profit of $8.68 per share, easily beating analysts' $8.08 per share expectations. Revenue for the period rose 19% year over year to $17.3 billion vs. Wall Street consensus of $16.9 billion.
Meanwhile, Facebook also continues to rally following its recent earnings beat, gaining another 1.46% today, marking a 23.5% jump from the stock's closing price prior to its earnings release on January 27.
Finally, Michael Kors (KORS) shares are spiking on heavy volume today after topping earnings results. The London-based luxury retailer reported earnings of $1.59 per diluted share, which topped analysts' estimates of $1.46. Revenue for the period rose 6.3% to $1.4 billion, higher than analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion.
