First Quarter Earnings | featured news

MasterCard's first-quarter profit rose 24%, topping analysts' expectations, and revenue also beat views.

Chrysler Group LLC reported its first quarterly net profit since emerging from bankruptcy nearly two years ago, helped by a revamped lineup of cars and trucks as well as higher vehicle prices.

Caterpillar drove the Dow Jones industrial average higher Friday after the company reported a huge gain in first-quarter earnings. The world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment rose 2.5 percent after its earnings increased more than five-fold. The company also raised its sales and profit forecast for the year.

Research In Motion shares were sharply lower Friday, after the company issued a steep first-quarter earnings warning late Thursday, heightening fears that the BlackBerry maker is buckling amid competition from Apple and Google.

Chevron says first-quarter earnings rose 36 percent. The company received higher prices for the oil it produced, and also made more money from refining oil.

Motorola Mobility this afternoon posted better-than-expected Q1 results. For the quarter, the company reported revenue of $3 billion and a non-GAAP loss of 8 cents a share; the Street had expected $2.84 billion and a loss of 12 cents a share. The company said it sold 9.3 million mobile devices in the quarter, including 4.1 million smart phones, and more than 250,000 tablets. Revenues were up 22% from a year ago.

A pair of weak economic reports Thursday show the American recovery remains fragile: Economic growth slowed sharply in the first quarter, and jobless claims unexpectedly jumped last week.

Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported big jumps in first quarter earnings and beat forecasts, thanks to high oil prices and healthy refining margins.

Amazon.com Inc reported that first-quarter sales rose 38.2 percent, above analysts' forecasts.

Verizon reported on Thursday that it activated 2.2 million iPhones during its first fiscal quarter for 2011. The cell service provider revealed the information as part of its quarterly earnings report, a day after Apple and AT&T shared their quarterly earnings data.