Boeing Co reported a 52 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by higher commercial plane deliveries and one-time tax gains, but investors were spooked by rising costs in its military tanker program. Boeing's shares fell as much as 3 percent after the company said it took a $272-million charge related to its tanker program and maintained its 2014 cash-flow forecast. The stock was the biggest loser on the Dow Jones Industrial index, which was down 0.41 percent by midday on Wednesday. "To us it is worrying that Boeing is booking a charge of this magnitude at a relatively early stage in this long-term program, particularly given recent assurances from management that everything was going to plan, RBC Capital Markets analyst Robert Stallard wrote in a note to clients.

PepsiCo Inc's PEP.N higher-than-expected quarterly profit could give the company more ammunition against an activist investor who wants it to separate its snack and beverage businesses. The maker of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay snacks raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast on Wednesday and said organic revenue grew 5 percent in its global snacks business, helped by strong sales of Lay's, Doritos and Cheetos chips. It also reported a 2 percent organic sales increase in its beverage business, which includes the Gatorade and Tropicana brands. The sales increases were partly a result of price hikes that PepsiCo implemented as it launched new products which usually command higher prices.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes were mostly higher in midday trading Wednesday as investors weighed positive earnings in the technology sector against disappointing news out of aircraft giant Boeing and other companies. Biotechnology stocks were among the biggest gainers.