Strong earnings news boosted the markets to a higher close with the Dow climbing 38 points to 13,246. Nasdaq surged 40 points to 2641.

On the upside

Smart Modular Technologies (Nasdaq: SMOD) reported first quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations prompting an upgrade.

Leap Wireless International (Nasdaq: LEAP) chairman Dr. Mark Rachesky purchased over 2 million shares of the company over the past two days to increase his stake in the company to approximately 21%.

First quarter earnings for Lindsay (NYSE: LNN) more than doubled as revenue surged.

On the downside

Genitope (Nasdaq: GTOP) reported that its lymphoma vaccine MyVax failed to prevent the spread of cancer in a phase III trial.

CPI (NYSE: CPY) blamed acquisition related expenses for widening third quarter losses.

Several analyst lowered their price targets for student lender Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM).

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 9 to 7 on the NYSE and by a 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks leaped 11 points to 768.