Tesla, IBM and Meta Platforms helped lead most U.S. stocks higher on Thursday following a rush of profit reports from some of the country’s most influential companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, as four out of every five stocks in the index climbed.

Tesla's fourth-quarter net income fell 71% from a year ago, when results were boosted by a one-time tax benefit.

With Tesla set to release its latest quarterly earnings report, Wall Street thinks the stock can keep rising on a "golden age" for automation and AI.

Tesla shares bumped higher in early Thursday trading following a disappointing fourth quarter earnings update that was somewhat offset by a bullish outlook from CEO Elon Musk, triggering a host of price target changes from analysts on Wall Street.

Tesla stock opened down 0.7% at $395.19 ahead of earnings. Coming into this report, Tesla stock has fallen for five of the past six trading days, losing almost 7% over that span. The year-over-year gain is worth more than the market value of General Motors,