quarterly earnings

There were a few positives in Netflix's quarterly report Tuesday, but the stock fell 14% thanks in part to mixed results and uninspiring guidance. But the real reasons investors fled are more complex -- and disturbing.

This week on Wall Street, everyone will be watching Netflix; mutual funds will talk assets under management; we'll see earnings from some stock freshmen; NFL teams will pick their own fresh stock; and a few companies are likely to issue deja vu quarterly reports.

As earnings reports for the first quarter roll in, U.S. companies are beating the estimates of analysts at a rate not seen in more than a decade. Yet stocks have languished. The S&P 500 has fallen about 2% in April. So why aren't investors impressed?

The holidays may have come and gone, but when Best Buy posts its quarterly earnings, it's going to very publicly relive them -- whether it wants to or not. Wall Street analysts are generally optimistic, but there reasons for investors to worry.

Suddenly, Majesco Entertainment isn't living up to its COOL ticker symbol. Shares of the video game developer and publisher got crushed on Tuesday after it surprised the markets by following its previous three blowout quarters with a loss for Q4.

If Netflix's poorly received rate hike and Qwikster fiasco didn't leave you questioning CEO Reed Hastings' ability to lead the video buffet operator, Monday night's quarterly report should do the trick. But it'll take more than strategic missteps and fumbled apologies to send the CEO packing.

Apple finds itself in an unfamiliar place this week. The iEverything giant posted quarterly results on Tuesday that missed Wall Street's expectations. That hasn't happened in years. While the iPhone 4S delay was the key culprit, the real story is in these seven key numbers that Apple investors should keep in mind.

The bad news is that the stock market, as measured by the S&P 500, sits at 1,131, a low point it hasn't traded near consistently since late 2009. The worse news is that there's every reason to believe it will decline further to below 900, back to levels it hit around March 2009.

Earnings season has officially kicked into high gear: 39 companies have reported so far, with the S&P reporting an earnings per share surprise of 6.8%. The best results include increases in financials, consumer discretionary, and materials. Here are some highlights.

Earnings season unofficially kicks off today, but 26 companies have already reported for the second quarter of this year. According to institutional data provider Capital IQ, here are some of the highlights so far: