Bank of America Falls After Earnings (SAJ, BAC, BPOP, AGU, ABT)

Major indices in U.S turned higher after opening lower on Wednesday with investors awaited more comments from the chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.59 (0.31%) to 12,845.13 and the S&P 500 index added 5.55 (0.41%) to 1,369.22. The Nasdaq Composite surged 23.40 (0.80%) to 2,933.44. Following are the notable movers at morning session on Wednesday:-

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) stock fell 1.33% to $7.82 in the early hour after the company reported a second quarter profit of $2.46 billion, as compared with a year-earlier loss of $8.83 billion. On a per-share basis earnings came in at $0.19 a share from a loss of $0.90 a share a year earlier. Total revenue surged 66% to $21.97 billion, mainly because of unusually weak noninterest income a year earlier. Analysts expected earnings of $0.14 a share on $22.87 billion in revenue.

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St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) stock declined 3.59% to $37.72 in the morning hour after the company posted a second quarter profit of $244 million, or $0.78 a share, as against $241 million, or $0.72 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were up at $0.88 a share. The company had forecast 86 cents to 88 cents, slightly below analysts' estimates at the time. Revenue decreased 2% to $1.41 billion. Analysts recently projected $1.43 billion.

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) stock decreased 2.04% to $15.94 in the early hour after the company posted a second quarter profit of $65.7 million, as compared with a year-earlier profit of $110.7 million that included a $59.6 million tax benefit. Per-share earnings came in at $0.63 a share versus $1.07 a year earlier. Revenue decreased 13% to $434.9 million. Analysts expected earnings of $0.41 a share on revenue of $447 million.

Agrium Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AGU) stock gained 2.85% to $95.21 in the morning hour after the company lifted its second-quarter earnings outlook, citing excellent results across its entire crop input business. The company expects earnings in the quarter to be in the range of $5.40 to $5.50 per share. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $4.75 per share.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares fell 0.51% to $66.18 in the early hour after the company reported an 11% decline in second-quarter earnings, as a modest sales gain was offset by charges for the company's planned split up and restructuring costs. For the three months ended June 30, the company earned $1.73 billion, or $1.08 per share, versus $1.94 billion, or $1.23 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $1.23 a share, a penny ahead of the mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Sales rose 2% to $9.81 billion, falling short of the Thomson mean estimate of $9.84 billion.