First Quarter Earnings | featured news

Home Depot (HD) posted a strong increase in first quarter profits today, and hiked its full-year forecast.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says its first-quarter net income rose 10 percent as the world's largest retailer benefited from cost-cutting.

News Corp.'s profit fell 69% from a year earlier, which included big one-time gains, offsetting the success of "Avatar" and continued growth at the company's cable-television channels.

President Barack Obama acclaimed a government report on Friday that showed the economy expanded at a 3.2 percent rate in the first quarter, saying it was an "important milepost on the road to recovery."

Ford (F) swung to a profit for the first quarter today, earning $2. 1 billion ...

UAL Corp. (UAUA), parent to United Airlines, posted a narrower first quarter loss today of $82 million ...

IBM increased its quarterly dividend by 18% and will look buy back $8 billion worth of stock.

Blockbuster iPhone sales helped Apple Inc. blow past Wall Street's expectations with a 90 percent leap in net income for the most recent quarter. Shares of the company skyrocketed to an all-time high in extended trading Tuesday.

Apple said it sold a record 8.8 million of its popular iPhone smart phones in the three months that ended March 27, more than double the number sold a year ago. Revenue from the phones made up 40 percent of Apple's total revenue. The previous high was 8.7 million phones sold in the October-December quarter last year.

Goldman Sachs said Tuesday its first-quarter earnings almost doubled to $3.3 billion as its trading business again surpassed the rest of the financial industry. A top lawyer for the bank, which is facing civil fraud charges, said Goldman would "never intentionally mislead anyone."

The air carrier posts a slimmer loss this quarter and projects a profitable April through June period.