U.S. Markets Continue Gains as Target and John Deere Announce Quarterly Financial Results (DE, TGT, WMT, HD, LOW, KSS)

U.S. markets continued their gains on Wednesday as the Nasdaq rose 6.26 points to 2,215.70 and the S&P 500 rose 1.62 points to 1,094.16, making the third consecutive day of gains for each. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up for the second consecutive day, gaining 9.69 points to close at 10,415.54. European markets were down Wednesday and Asian markets were mixed.

Quarterly Financial Highlights

Deere & Co (NYSE: DE) announced an increased in sales for quarter three as well as an earnings per share number that beat analysts’ expectations. Unfortunately, their profit forecasts were less than expected. The company also reduced their expectations for European revenues due to already falling European sales.

Target Corp (NYSE: TGT) reported increased quarterly sales thanks to both new store additions and comparable-store sales. Unfortunately, their revenues fell short of their forecasts.

Between the mixed results from TGT and DE today and those from Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) and Home Depot Inc’s (NYSE: HD) yesterday, Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE: LOW) and Kohl’s Corp (NYSE: KSS) stocks surged. LOW gained 4 percent while KSS rose 3.82 percent.