Why Boeing, iRobot, and U.S. Steel Jumped Today

The stock market largely kept up its bullish sentiment on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrials pushing higher more sharply than other major benchmarks in large part because of good news from Dow component Boeing (NYSE: BA). More broadly, earnings season continued to feature a healthy serving of upbeat reports from companies throughout the economy, and investors were even sanguine about the Federal Reserve's statement that it intends to go forward with a reduction in the size of its balance sheet in the near future.

Boeing, iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT), and U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.

Shares of Boeing climbed 10% after the aerospace giant reported its second-quarter financial results. Revenue actually fell by more than 8% from the year-ago period, which was worse than investors had expected despite Boeing's statement that the figure reflected planned rates of airplane production and timing of deliveries of commercial and military aircraft. Adjusted earnings, however, were much stronger than the consensus forecast among those following the stock, reversing a loss in the year-ago quarter. Boeing also boosted its guidance for the full year by $0.60 per share, providing a new range of $9.80 to $10 per share. With backlog figures approaching the half-trillion-dollar mark and favorable tailwinds from healthy commercial airlines and a rising military budget, Boeing couldn't ask for a better business environment in which to thrive.

Source: Fool.com