First Quarter | featured news

Facebook was once a darling of investors, then a turnoff. Now, a year after going public, the social network seems to have settled into a more stable relationship with Wall Street. But the company has still been taking pains to prove that it can make more money from its base of more than a billion users, especially from those using Facebook on mobile devices.

While advertising continued to fall, The New York Times Company, which is repositioning itself for a digital age, said circulation revenue rose 6.5 percent in the first quarter.

The automaker, which continues to struggle overseas, posted first-quarter net income of $1.6 billion, beating Wall Street expectations.

Bank of America has reported a sharp rise in profits after it shed costs and set aside less money for bad loans. The bank reported first quarter net income of $2.3bn (£1.5bn), after making $328m in the same quarter a year ago.

Yahoo said its profit rose 36% as the struggling Internet pioneer showed signs of continuing its slow but steady rebound under Mayer. But its shares fell after-hours on signs of decay in sales of display ads.

Citigroup Inc reported a higher-than-expected 31 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Monday as it drew down loss reserves for mortgage loans, and revenue from its securities and investment banking business swelled.

Retail sales contracted in March for the second time in three months, a sign the American economy may have stumbled at the end of the first quarter.

Consumer spending rose in February and sentiment among Americans perked up this month, further signs of an acceleration in economic activity in the first quarter after a near stall in late 2012.

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s first-quarter earnings declined 16% as the technology giant continued to see weaker sales in its core personal computer business, though adjusted profits beat the company's expectations.

JPMorgan Chase on Thursday formally revised its first-quarter financial results to show a lower profit, after deciding that traders at its main investment arm had overstated the value of certain derivatives.