Stocks were lower Wednesday afternoon, led by big declines in shares of technology companies, as investors digested a flurry of earnings reports that came out after yesterday's closing bell.

Target’s stock was down more than 20% in afternoon trading, compared with a 0.6% decline for the S&P 500 index, according to FactSet data, at last check. The S&P 500’s consumer-staples sector was slumping 0.4% on Wednesday afternoon.