Stocks rise as investors pore over corporate earnings

Stocks turned higher in back-and-forth trading Wednesday as a two-day rally spurred by a better-than-feared start to earnings season struggled to sustain momentum.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) advanced 0.2% after the index gained more than 4% in the past two days, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) bounced 130 points, or 0.4%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) nudged up 0.2%.

Netflix (NFLX) was in the spotlight following a big earnings beat Tuesday afternoon that included 2.41 million new subscribers – a key metric watched by analysts – more than double Wall Street’s estimate of 1 million additions. Executives noted in the earnings statement that the company is “on a path to reaccelerate growth” after a challenging first half of the year. Shares surged 16%.

Elsewhere on the earnings front, shares of United Airlines Holdings (UAL) rose nearly 8% Wednesday morning after the airline reported higher-than-expected third-quarter earnings results due to strong travel demand and a profit forecast for the current quarter that exceeded Wall Street estimates.

Strong reports from Netflix and United Airlines add to a batch of upbeat corporate results rolled out earlier in the week from companies including Goldman Sachs (GS) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

Although figures have so far come in better than anticipated, of…