Genworth slumps after reserves review Genworth Financial was one of the worst performing stock on the S&P 500 after the insurance provider said it would increase insurance claim reserves tied to its long-term care business and missed third-quarter earnings. Genworth said the net loss reflected the completion of a review of its long-term care insurance claim reserves, which it increased by $531m to cover possible losses. The company also took a non-cash goodwill impairment of $517m, which weighed on results. It reported a net loss of $844m, or $1.70 a share, in the three months to the end of September. Sales climbed nearly 4 per cent to $2.4bn. Analysts on Wall Street were looking for earnings of 16 cents a share, on sales of $2.38bn. Adjusting for certain items, the company reported a loss of 64 cents a share, short of expectations for a profit of 21 cents a share. "While we do not foresee an equity raise, we believe that Genworth has limited capital flexibility and might need to reinsure [or] sell blocks of business to meet US mortgage insurance capital standards or avert a downgrade by rating agencies, which would further pressure future profits," said Jimmy Bhullar, an analyst at JPMorgan. Genworth Financial shares slumped 38 per cent to $8.67 and are down nearly 44 per cent so far this year. Qualcomm was another poor performer on the S&P 500 after it reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that missed Wall Street's expectations and warned that "underreporting" of sales by some Chinese customers had impacted its outlook. Qualcomm's sales climbed 3 per cent to $6.7bn, short of estimates for $7bn. The wireless chip developer said it expected $26.8bn to $28.8bn in revenues in fiscal 2015, below forecasts for $29.12bn. Shares slipped nearly 9 per cent to $70.58. Shares of Whole Foods advanced 12 per cent to $44.65 as same-store sales at the retailer accelerated at the start of its fiscal first quarter, eclipsing Wall Street expectations. The company said like-for-like sales rose 4.6 per cent in the first five weeks of its current quarter, up from the 3.1 per cent gain in the three months to the end of September, which was in line with Wall Street forecasts. Profits climbed 5.8 per cent to $128m, or 35 cents per share. Net sales climbed 9.4 per cent to $3.26bn. Analysts on Wall Street had projected earnings of 32 cents a share on sales of $3.26bn. Tesla shares climbed nearly 4 per cent to $239.72 even though the carmaker reported third-quarter deliveries and fourth-quarter guidance that were below expectations. But management expects Model S orders and deliveries to rise 50 per cent in 2015. "A wobbly third quarter but the market takes the long-term view for now," said Patrick Archambault, an analyst with Goldman Sachs. US stocks closed on record highs as the S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 2,031.19, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to 17.530.69. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4 per cent to 4,638.47.