>> announcer: this is "nightly business report," with tayyip erdogan tyler mathisen and sue herera. the tech-adopted nasdaq pushes further into negative territory. united settles with a man dragged off its plane and takes more steps to try and improve its battered image. drowning in debt. americans owe a lot of money and the amount is growing fast. how much is too much? those stories and more on "nightly business report" for thursday, april good evening, everyone, and welcome. the nasdaq closes at a record. and the way things shaped up late today, that index's hot streak my only get hotter.

let's start with amazon, reporting strong quarterly results, blowing earnings estimates right out of the water. the company reported a sharp rise if profit even as it spent a lot expanding operations overseas. it earned $1.48 a share, 36 cents better than what wall street was looking for. revenue climbed from a year ago and also topped expectations. investors liked what they saw, sending shares to a record in after hours trading. deirdre bosa has the results. >> reporter: $1,000 is the next big number for amazon, pushing its shares within striking distance of that milestone. the company is pushing into a dizzying new array of businesses and regions and investing huge to do so. this quarter alone, it spent in india, boosted its logistics business, and introduced new features and eyes for its hit

echo device. it's making money thanks to continued growth in retail and its profitable cloud business. deirdre bosa in san francisco. alphabet, the parent company of google, is competing with facebook to grab a larger share. its youtube business is also strong, despite some brands recently pulling some ad money because of placement next to controversial videos. alphabet's results topped earnings and revenue expectations. look at the chart there, it saw shares rise in initial after-hours trading. josh lipton now with more on the company's big quarter. >> reporter: $21.4 billion. that was one big number in alphabet's latest earnings report. again, this is how this company does make money. some investors had expressed concern heading into this report. remember, in late march, some

big brands had suspended campaigns on youtube after ads were running alongside offensive content. google responded, implemented some new controls and policies to safeguard those advertisers. in a quick chat with a senior executive at alphabet, they said from a revenue perspective, the impact from that controversy would, in their word, be modest, and that long term they would continue to benefit in the secular shift in how consumers are consuming content. investors looked pleased with the result. for "nightly business report," josh lipton, san francisco. while investors liked the results from newer tech companies, they were disappointed by old tech. microsoft's earnings topped expectations. its revenue, though, slightly missed due to week growth in its personal computing business, its largest by revenue. there was increased demand for the company's cloud business. shareholders expressed their

disappointment, sending shares lower in after-hours trading. julia boorstin has more on microsoft's results. >> reporter: microsoft's cloud services driving good results. from large multinationals to small businesses, organizations are using microsoft's cloud platforms to power their digital transformation. microsoft's azure cloud product saw 93% growth in the quarter, while its productivity businesses saw a 22% increase. back over to you. >> julia boorstining, the there. intel reported lower than expected revenue. its data center business, crucial to intel's transition from pcs to internet-connected devis devices, didn't do as well as hoped. the ceo says he feels good about

the quarter. >> the data center performed in line with our expectations for the full year. we're looking at 8% growth for the year. 6% is what we expected in the first quarter and we feel like we're well-positioned. >> he may have been satisfied, but investors were not. they were disappointed, pressuring the stock in initially late day trading. lots to talk about. let's turn to dan morgan with more on how big tech names and the results might impact today's record-setting nasdaq. he's manager at sinova trust. nice to have you, dan, welcome. >> thanks, sue. >> the nasdaq sets a record high. there are those who say the nasdaq is looking a little frothy. others say it can power higher. how do you feel? >> we look at the nasdaq compost, it trades about 33 times earnings. s&p is 21 times earnings. but if you look at expected growth, sue, going into this

year, nasdaq is like 53% compared to the s&p 500 at about 11%. so i think that the multiple commensurates the expectations in terms of earnings growth. the other point is, you have to remember only a thousand points above where we were in march of 2000 when the nasdaq hit 5,000. we're not that much higher than we were 16, 17 years ago. >> what's driving the nasdaq? is it the names like the ones that reported today, the alphabet and amazon? or is it ones that fly a little bit below the radar screen? >> one area that, you know, wasn't on the platform today was the semiconductors. they have done extremely well, an area that's been doing well within technology, within the nasdaq. apple reports next week with their expectations on iphone 8 or getting ready for that. those are other reasons that have been pushing the nasdaq. it's been other names, tyler, than just the names we're talking about today, which is

obviously amazon and google with huge numbers. >> you mention in the notes i'm looking at here that the commerce department is going to report the gdp number tomorrow, and that we've seen business investment in software and business spending in software drop off a little bit. do you anticipate that that will continue? and how worrisome is that for you? >> it's somewhat worrisome, sue. last quarter, it was down 4.8%. if we got another bad number tomorrow on, you know, business investment in software spending, that would give us some concerns that going forward, growth in technology spending may be slowing, and that's something we have to be worried about within the nasdaq composite. >> what's your favorite tech stock? >> amazon, just because of aws, amazon web services, up 42%. >> that's pretty good. >> that's a gem there with amazon, it's done really well. that's one of my top technology stocks right now. >> all right, dan, we'll leave it there.

thank you so much for joining us, dan morgan. the tech center lifted the broader market, offsetting a decline in energy shares as investors shifted focus from washington back to the health of corporate america. the dow jones industrials up 6 points to 20,981. nasdaq up 23 to the record, as we recorded earlier. the s&p 500 was up 1 1/3. we're at the halfway point of the earnings season and some trends are emerging. bob pisani has a look. >> reporter: so far the market likes had an what it sees. stocks have rallied because of long-awaited tax cuts now in play. earnings guidance that has generally been better than traders anticipated. now, full year guidance has been strong, particularly in the industrial space. so the largest names like caterpillar and 3m and

honeywell, stanley black & decker, have not only beaten the guidance but also raised full year estimates. ge and united technologies both reaffirmed their full year outlook. that's a huge relief to the markets, because traders have been concerned because stocks have expensive by historic standards. analysts have been modelling notable increases in earnings for the rest of the year based on not trump tax cuts but on an improving global economy. first quarter profits are expected to jump 12%, the best gain in six years. they have similarly high hopes for the rest of the year. by the way, this is not just the united states. earnings have also improved in europe. the stock 600, the european equivalent of the s&p 500, saw earnings grow about 13% in the fourth quarter. that follows a year of declining earnings. now first quarter earnings are expected to rise 5.5% in europe. that would be the strongest in five years for that quarter. we'll see if this is enough to keep the stock market near

record highs. that's the key. for "nightly business report," i'm bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. still ahead, as americans continue to borrow money, how much debt is too much debt? the number of homes that were under contract dipped in march. according to the national association of realtors, pending home sales fell 8% from a month

earlier. the decline may be due to both the lack of inventory on the market and also the increase in home prices which have risen far faster in recent years than americans' incomes. president trump says the north american free trade agreement, nafta, will be renegotiated, not immediately terminated. the president decided against abrogating the trade deal after speaking to the leaders of both mexico and canada. he added that terminating the deal would be a shock to the system, but if a fair deal cannot be renegotiated, nafta will be terminated. one day after the white housing released its tax outline, investors want to know what impact if any it could potentially have on economic growth. steve liesman did some digging. >> reporter: the president's tax cut plan immediately launched a vigorous debate among economists. what will it cost and how much growth will it generate? but the president's team threw a wrench in the argument. it didn't release enough

information, and it did it on purpose. >> we did it on purpose, not to try to hide the numbers, but to say look, this is the first discussion. >> reporter: to score the revenue effects of a tax cut, the models need the actual numbers, which were not provided by the trump administration. they need to know how the cuts are paid for to gauge the deficit impacts. tax cuts could spark massive growth, says the trump administration. but others say the effects will be modest at best and will create huge deficits. >> this has been enormously studied on economists on both sides of the aisle. we have lots of experience with broad based tax cuts. the bush tax cuts at the beginning of the last decade, the reagan tax cuts in the 1980s. and you can argue about whether on balance they were good things or whether they were bad things. but there is no, no serious

reading of the evidence that suggests that they came close to paying for themselves by stimulating economic growth. >> reporter: the administration essentially acknowledges this. they say it will bump growth to 3%. but that won't be enough. >> this will pay for itself with growth, deductions, and closing loopholes. >> reporter: the treasury secretary says hundreds of people in his department have been scoring the plan. but the administration has chosen for the moment not to release any of that work, which would help the public and investors score the tax plan for themselves. for "nightly business report," i'm steve liesman. according to the northwestern mutual's 2017 planning and progress report, americans are besieged by debt. four in ten americans say they spend nearly half of their monthly income paying down debt. while more than one in ten say their debt exceeds $100,000. chris christopher is director of

consumer economics at ais market. and he joins us now to discuss why consumer debt is where it is and why it is rising. this study, chris, excludes, as i understand it, most forms of mortgage debt. had a we're talking about here is student, consumer, auto, and other. >> yes. and not all type of debt is the same. that's the key question. i mean, student debt is a lot different than you see on credit card debt. it's more focused on a particular age cohort. it's an interesting study. however, you have to look at each piece of it very carefully. >> and student loan debt tends to be at a lower interest rate certainly than credit card debt. how worried are you, if at all, about the amount of credit card debt that americans are carrying? >> the level of credit card debt has been sort of -- it did fall during the great recession, and it is creeping up. however, when you look at the

employment numbers, consumer confidence, wage growth, it is sort of on pace with that. however, student loan debt and student loan defaults, that is a worrisome issue. and that's very focused on a certain age cohort. and they are sort of bearing the burden of that. >> i would also guess that auto loan debt, which has now gotten out to -- it's not just a three-year loan anymore, sometimes it's a five, six, seven-year loan to keep the monthly payments down, that can be a burden as well. what's the best advice you would give someone who is struggling with these kinds of debts? >> well, i would tell everyone to sort of live modestly, make sure you go to school, of course, you know, be a good student, and of course don't overspend. try to live within your means or if you're buying that automobile, by an automobile that's sort of -- you know you can sort of afford, and don't be

tricked by stretching out the payments, therefore under the false illusion that you don't have to sort of -- it's not that expensive. >> very quickly, we have about 30 seconds left, chris, the auto loans that are being made are being made, as i understand it, to riskier borrowers. is that a danger on a systemic level, kind of like what we saw with the housing crisis, where you had subprime mortgages? are we seeing an increase in subprime debt in the auto sector? >> what we're sort of seeing, this is data from the new york fed, is that auto loan debt has surpassed a trillion dollars overall. it is increasing. and the defaults are increasing. in addition, the credit scores of those who are getting these new loans, the originations have been lower and lower. so that is one concern. however, it's not like a housing bubble of any sort. you don't buy a car and then try

to flip it and all that kind of stuff. it is used for a purpose. but it is a concern, we're watching it very carefully. >> chris, thank you very much. chris christopher with ihs market. under armour tops earnings estimates. that's where we begin tonight's market focus. the athletic footwear maker posted a loss but the street was expecting worse. the company also said it's confident it will meet full year financial targets. shares popped nearly 10% to $21.67. ford's profit fell as the automaker said earnings were hampered by recall costs and investment in future products. still, the results were better than expected. revenue rose thanks in part to an increase in average transaction prices in the u.s. nonetheless, shares fell 1% to $11.47. ups's better than expected results were helped in part by a rise in e-commerce delivers.

the company said all segments contributed to a solid quarter. >> overall for the quarter across the enterprise, we are -- we're pretty happy with where we're at right now. in the international business, we saw exports grow at the highest we've seen since the recession, at over 14%. and then on the supply chain and freight business we saw profits up 22%. in the u.s. business, revenues were up about 5%. >> ups' shares rose 1% to 10$8 shipping volumes are expected to rise in the low single digits this year. union pacific shares up 3% to $113.53. starbucks said global same store sales grew. but it wasn't at the clip analysts expected. the coffee chain said it's

confident future sales will be driven by a number of new products in the pipeline. the company disappointed the street with its latest quarterly revenue while its earnings were in line with estimates. shares initially fell. after hours they ended the regular session down a fraction at $61.30. coming up, not coming to america. why fewer people are booking flights to the u.s.

american airlines wants to increase pay for its pilots and flight attendants. the airline said the employees would receive on average 5 to 8% increases in hourly pay. the adjustment matches rival carriers and it comes mid-contract. the company also reported solid results and delivery of wide-body jets. the pay increase, which could cost the company $1 billion over three years, worried some investors and it pushed the stock lower in trading today. united airlines has reached a settlement with the passenger dragged off his flight a couple of weeks ago. the sum, not surprisingly, not disclosed. take your own guess there. the passenger, dr. david dow, was hospitalized after he was forcibly removed from the plane to make room fortr transiting cw members. the airline continues to grapple

from the fallout of the incident. phil lebeau has more. >> reporter: with the video of the doctor being dragged off a united airlines plane still swirling on social media, united airlines is hoping new policies and more apologies will help mend the company's battered image. for starters, it's changing how it treats overbooked flights. passengers will now be offered up to $10,000 to voluntary give up their seat. once a passenger is on the plane, they cannot be bumped. while united says it will reduce the amount of overbooking, ceo oscar munoz says the practice will continue because it helps the bottom line. >> the reason we do it is to fill up the plane. plain and simple. if we didn't fill up the plane, the economists in the world all talk about the fact that prices might indeed rise. >> reporter: munoz admits united has not calculated how much this controversy has cost the airline, but delta has already

increased how much it will offer passengers to give up their seats. southwest airlines says it will soon stop overbooking flights. >> we're seriously reconsidering that practice. and i've made the decision, the company's made the decision that we'll cease to overbook going forward. >> reporter: for united, the lesson is clear. america service must improve. >> our shared purpose in our company is about connecting people and uniting the world. that came from a lot of input from a lot of our family here at united. connecting people. simple words. what they mean is connecting you to the things that are important to you, regardless of where you're sitting. >> reporter: united is implementing some of these changes immediately. others, like more training for gate agents and flight crews, will start over the next couple of months. phil lebeau, "nightly business report," chicago. while united is dealing with issues here at home, the travel airline industry is also dealing

with a drop-off of visitors to the u.s. according to software company adobe, people booking flights from overseas destinations to the u.s. fell 6% in the first quarter. what's keeping them away? hannah sampson is the associate editor at skift, nice to have you here. >> good to be here, thanks. >> i noted that an additional 26% dropped their plans or changed their plans for coming to the united states the week that the travel restrictions were announced in february. so it seems as though they have had quite a chilling effect. >> there was a lot of disruption, especially around those few days, around the travel ban, because it was just so tumultuous, it was such an uncertain time. and the images of protests at airports and people being detained was really very chilling to travelers all over the world. >> are people also worried about the strong dollar? >> i think that is a big

underlying factor, and it's been a problem for the u.s. for the last -- you know, more than a year they've been dealing with the fact that it's a little more expensive for international travel others. so they had to work that much harder to get people to part with their vacation dollars. and now, with that kind of extra problem of having an unwelcoming message, it's presenting some new challenges. >> there are a couple of states, you point out, that are trying to combat that a little bit, they're putting out pr campaigns of a welcoming nature. does that tend to have an impact or not? >> well, we'll see. it's only been not that long since l.a. and new york city specifically started to roll out these messages that said, you're welcome to be here, we want you to be here. they show people speaking different languages. they kind of highlight the diversity of those destinations. and really drive home the point that diversity is welcome, at

least in those cities, even if the u.s. all together isn't tending that message. >> is the falloff in demand for u.s. travel resulting in cancelled flights by big airlines? >> we have seen at least one international airline, emirates, pull back the number of flights that it's flying to the u.s. and they're tying that directly to trump's policies, both the travel ban and the crackdown on in-cabin personal electronics, you have to stow your laptop in checked luggage. and that's inconvenient. and both of those things are really contributing to a drop in demand. so that airline is taking the action they have to take. >> right. travel for business purposes, now that equipment issue certainly hit business travelers very hard. but the survey also said that 37% of managers anticipate a drop in business travel, and 47%

of europeans said they expect a reduction. >> yes. so that's something that especially the business travel industry is really, really concerned about right now. they have europeans saying, we're going to plan our meetings somewhere else, in other countries. so that's a big concern for them. >> thank you, hannah. hannah sampson with scift. that's "nightly business report" tonight, i'm sue herera, thanks for joining us. >> i'm tyler mathisen. have a great evening. we'll see you tomorrow, friday.