Tuesday's Headlines: Disney Earnings

Updated from 8:25 a.m. EDT

(At 3:56 p.m. EDT)

Wednesday Bound

The stock market finished modestly lower Tuesday, which really isn't a major deal in the grand scheme of things. After a victory Monday for the bulls, giving back 16 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average can hardly be counted as a loss. Now that the trading day is over, investors can look to several earnings reports out late Tuesday and early Wednesday for some direction.

Disney's (DIS Quote) fiscal second-quarter report will be the highlight of Tuesday's after-market session, after the company reported a profit of 43 cents a share on revenue of $8.09 billion. A poll by Thomson Reuters shows that on average, analysts expect the media giant to post a profit of 40 cents a share on revenue of $8.15 billion. By comparison, the company reported a profit of 58 cents a share on revenue of $8.71 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Electronic Arts (ERTS Quote), Las Vegas Sands (LVS Quote), Centex (CTX Quote) and Pulte Homes (PHM Quote) are among the other notable names reporting late Tuesday.

While the Rock Band and Madden NFL 09 fan in me will be eyeing the Electronic Arts report, Las Vegas Sands could be more interesting. Shares of its rival MGM Mirage (MGM Quote) surged 40% during Tuesday's session after the casino operator posted a narrower-than-expected fourth-quarter loss, helping boost Las Vegas Sands by 21% ahead of its own report.

Wednesday will be another busy day for earnings, with reports from Garmin (GRMN Quote), Transocean (RIG Quote), Marsh McLennan (MMC Quote) and Devon Energy (DVN Quote), among others, due before the opening bell.

It will also be another quiet day on the economic front. At 8:15 a.m. EDT, ADP (ADP Quote) will release its employment data for April, with economists expecting the report to show a decline of 643,000 jobs, down from 742,000 in March.