Wall Street indexes inched up in early trading as investors digested another big batch of earnings reports. Here’s what we’re watching in Wednesday’s session:

Chart of the Day

Write to James Willhite at james.willhite@wsj.com

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Wall Street indexes inched up in early trading as investors digested another big batch of earnings reports. Here’s what we’re watching in Wednesday’s session:

  • Novavax shares plunged after Politico reported that the pharmaceutical company was running into difficulties manufacturing a Covid-19 vaccine that met regulators’ quality standards. 

A scientist at Novavax worked at a purification machine at the Novavax offices in Gaithersburg, Md., Feb. 11, 2021.

Photo: T.J. Kirkpatrick for The Wall Street journal

  • Netflix added 4.4 million memberships in the third quarter amid increased competition and the typical summer slowdown.
  • United Airlines, whose profit was boosted by federal aid, said the spread of the highly transmissible strain of Covid-19 slowed flying during the third quarter but hasn’t derailed its recovery.
  • Verizon Communications ‘ core cellphone business revved up in the third quarter despite aggressive marketing by rivals, allowing the carrier to post a net gain of 429,000 postpaid phone connections. That represents the key metric’s sharpest growth since 2019.
  • Abbott Laboratories third-quarter profit and sales beat expectations, with the strongest growth seen in its diagnostics business.
  • Canadian Pacific Railway reported quarterly earnings and noted supply-chain challenges.
  • Baker Hughes swung to profit in the third quarter, but fell shy of analyst expectations, as revenue and orders rose in the period.
  • Omnicom Group said its business continued to improve from the damage caused by the pandemic, with third-quarter organic revenue gains for the advertising company in each of its major disciplines.
  • Canadian National Railway ‘s profit increased in the third quarter, helped by higher freight rates and a rise in some fuel surcharges.
  • Tesla, Las Vegas Sands, CSX, Discover Financial Services and IBM are among the companies reporting earnings after the close.
Chart of the Day
  • The launch of ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF is being closely watched on Wall Street, where finding a way to sell securities linked to bitcoin has been a priority for many firms.

Write to James Willhite at james.willhite@wsj.com