Major U.S. Indices Close Down on Disappointing Earnings

A sea of red swamped Wall Street Tuesday; all three major U.S. indices closed down on the day, though off session lows. Nine out of 10 S&P sectors posted losses. Only energy managed to barely close in the green. The reason for the market sell-off? Earnings. Companies like IBM, United Technologies and Verizon all weighed on markets after missing Street estimates and projecting weak forecasts. After the bell, it was the equivalent of Super Tuesday for company earnings.

Apple, the most anticipated name, was the big disappointment but not because the tech giant missed - it beat on both fiscal third quarter EPS and revenue estimates. While iPhone sales hit 47.5 million for the quarter, Apple fans were hoping for closer to 50 million. Revenue came in at $31.37 billion. Apple CFO Luca Maestri said Tuesday volatility in China was a minor speed bump but did not affect Apple's business. The big question: why didn't CEO Tim Cook break out Apple watch numbers? Some on the Street believe sales might have been anemic, although the company is saying watch sales beat internal goals.

In the end, the market is a voting machine and it voted against Apple. Shares of  the tech giant fell in after hours trading, down around 8%. No help at all? The lower-than-expect fiscal fourth quarter forecast.

Microsoft also reported after the bell. Fiscal fourth quarter earnings beat on both the top and bottom line. Shares were down close to 4%, however, after hours after reporting a stronger dollar compared to foreign currencies had a major impact.

Yahoo reported mixed second quarter earnings after the close, missing slightly on EPS and beating on revenue. Shares of the media giant traded slightly lower after hours, even after reporting a 9% increase in ad sales and an increase in mobile ad revenue.

Favorite fast casual Mexican chain Chipotle reported second quarter earnings, beating on EPS and missing slightly on revenue. Shares fell nearly 4% in after hours after reporting lower-than-expected quarterly sales.

Finally, portable high-definition camera company GoPro saw a huge beat on both second quarter EPS and revenue. The company reported a 72% jump in profit last quarter and that its products are now sold in more than 40,000 stores worldwide. Even with the positive report, shares of GoPro were down just about 3% post-market close.

Gold futures logged a ninth straight session of losses, hovering around a five-year low at $1,100 an ounce. It marks its longest losing streak since 2008.