12:27 PM EDT, 04/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- All three major Wall Street indexes were up at midday Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the charge thanks to some strong earnings from tech giants.

In company news, Microsoft ( MSFT ) fiscal Q3 earnings late Thursday of $2.94 per diluted share, up from $2.45 a year-ago period and above the Capital IQ analyst consensus of $2.83. Revenue was $61.86 billion, up from $52.86 billion a year earlier and above the $60.89 billion estimated. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were up 2.7% recently.

Alphabet (GOOG) reported Q1 earnings late Thursday of $1.89 per share, up from $1.17 a year ago and above consensus forecast of $1.51. Revenue was $80.54 billion, up from $69.79 billion a year earlier and above the $78.70 billion expected by analysts. Notably, the company announced first ever dividend of $0.20 per share, payable June 17 to shareholders as of June 10 of class A, class B, and Class C share. The Google ( GOOG ) parent also announced a buy back program for up to an additional $70 billion of its class A and class C shares. Shares were up nearly 10%.

Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) reported Q1 non-GAAP earnings Friday of $2.06 per share, down from $2.83 a year earlier and below the consensus of $2.18. Revenue was $83.08 billion, down from $86.56 billion a year ago but above the consensus of $81.51 billion. Shares were down nearly 3%.

Chevron ( CVX ) reported Q1 adjusted earnings Friday of $2.93 per share, down from $3.55 a year earlier, but above the Capital IQ consensus of $2.90. Q1 revenue was $48.72 billion, beneath the year-ago quarter's $50.79 billion and the analyst consensus of $50.71 billion. Chevron ( CVX ) shares were down 0.4%.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $2.31 per diluted share, down from $2.46 a year earlier, but above the consensus of $2.26. Q1 net revenue was $12.31 billion, up from $12.23 billion a year-ago and above the $11.94 billion forecast. The drugmaker updated its 2024 adjusted EPS guidance to $11.13 to $11.33, up from $10.97 to $11.17. Analysts expect $11.12. Shares were down 4% around midday.

Boeing ( BA ) rival Airbus is increasing production of its A350 plane due to demand, not because of troubles at Boeing ( BA ), CNBC reported Friday, citing an interview with Airbus Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer. Airbus said it plans to increase its A350 production to 12 aircraft per month in 2028. Boeing ( BA ) shares were down 0.5%.

A Norfolk Southern ( NSC ) union, which represents locomotive engineers and other employees, will support an alternative slate of seven director candidates that activist investor Ancora Holdings is backing, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced Friday. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen is the second Teamsters-affiliated union to side with Ancora in its proxy fight with NSC management, joining the union representing the railway's maintenance personnel. NSC shares were down 0.6%.

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