Dow Drops Almost 400 Points as Reporting Season Begins

Wall Street edged back from its records on Tuesday following a mixed start to the latest profit reporting season for big US companies.

• The S&P 500 fell 13.53 points, or 0.2%, to 6,963.74 after drifting earlier between small gains and losses.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 398.21 points, or 0.8%, to 49,191.99.
• The Nasdaq composite fell 24.03 points, or 0.1%, to 23,709.87.

JPMorgan Chase was one of the heaviest weights on the market following its profit report, the AP reports. Treasury yields edged lower after an update on inflation strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve may be able to cut its main interest rate at least twice in 2026 to shore up the job market.

JPMorgan Chase helped kick off the latest reporting season by delivering weaker profit and revenue than analysts expected. Its stock fell 4.2%, but the shortfall may have been because some analysts hadn't updated their estimates to account for the earnings hit resulting from the bank's purchase of the Apple Card credit card portfolio. CEO Jamie Dimon sounded relatively optimistic about the US economy, saying "consumers continue to spend, and businesses generally remain healthy."

• Delta Air Lines lost 2.4% despite reporting a stronger profit for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. Its revenue came up short of Wall Street's expectations, as did the midpoint of its forecasted range for profit in 2026.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill sank 2.3% after saying it's looking for a new chief marketing officer, a move that surprised analysts.

On the winning side of Wall Street were several health care companies after they raised their financial forecasts at an industry conference with analysts.

• Moderna jumped 17% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after saying it expects to report revenue for 2025 that's above the midpoint of the range it had forecast in November. It also offered updates on several products, including a seasonal flu vaccine that could see potential approvals beginning later this year.
• Revvity rose 6% after life sciences company said it expects to report profit for 2025 that's above the top end of the forecasted range it had earlier given. Its forecast for revenue in the fourth quarter also topped analysts' expectations.
• Cardinal Health added 2.8% after saying it expects to earn at least $10 in adjusted earnings per share in its fiscal 2026 year, up from its prior forecasted range of $9.65 to $9.85.

Lower interest rates could make borrowing cheaper for US households and boost prices for investments, but they could also worsen inflation at the same time. Tuesday's report showed that US consumers paid prices last month for gasoline, food and other costs of living that were 2.7% higher overall than a year earlier. That's a touch worse than economists expected and above the Fed's 2% target for inflation. But, more encouragingly, an important underlying trend of inflation wasn't as bad last month as economists expected. That could give the Fed more leeway to lower interest rates later. "We've seen this movie before—inflation isn't reheating, but it remains above target," according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.