Dow climbs 200 points, Disney shares higher after strong earnings

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 226 points, or 0.7%. The S&P 500 added 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.8% on Thursday.

Disney shares gained more than 2% after the company posted smaller-than-expected subscriber losses along with earnings and revenue that beat estimates. The stock pared gains after CEO Bob Iger said that he was only expecting to stay in the role for two years. Activist investor Nelson Peltz also declared a proxy battle Thursday.

“Disney really is what got the animal spirits going,” said Jay Hatfield, chief investment officer at Infrastructure Capital Management. “These large-cap reporters are really what drive the market.”

PepsiCo advanced more than 2% on the back of Q4’s earnings that came in above Wall Street expectations. Investors have been watching earnings season closely for insight on how companies have fared amid high inflation and how they expect to perform going forward. But despite the latest batch of company reports, Wall Street has considered this earnings season lackluster.

Nearly 70% of the approximately two-thirds of S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far have beaten analyst expectations, FactSet data shows. That beat rate is below a three-year average of 79%. PayPal, Lyft and Expedia will report after the market closes.