First Quarter | featured news

Microsoft said Thursday that an accounting adjustment to reflect a weak online ad business led to its first quarterly loss in its 26 years as a public company. The software company had warned that it was taking a $6.2 billion charge because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive hasn't yielded the returns envisioned by management. The non-cash adjustment is something companies do when the value of their assets decline. Microsoft Corp. paid $6.3 billion for aQuantive, only to see rival Google Inc. expand its share of the online ad market.

The U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported a $3.2 billion loss for the first quarter of 2012, $1 billion more than during the same period last year.

The government-backed mortgage financier said it made a profit in the first quarter and that it does not need additional bailout money — a first since the federal government took it over in 2008.

Macy's reported higher fiscal-first-quarter earnings on solid sales gains and constraints on overhead costs.

The Wendy's Co. on Tuesday reported a first-quarter profit that missed Wall Street expectations and cut its forecast for the year, as the hamburger chain struggled in its revival efforts amid higher costs for fresh beef and weaker-than-expected sales.

Washington Post Co. reported a rise in first-quarter earnings that reflected a write-down a year earlier and that masked further weakness in the company's education centers.

GM (GM) posted a profit of $1 billion in the first quarter, beating Wall Street expectations on strong demand in its key North American market. GM also said the U.S. economy was improving and it expected its core North American results in the second and third quarters to largely match the first quarter due to scheduled downtime at its large truck plants.

Comcast Corp., the country's largest cable company, reported a 30 percent profit increase in the first quarter, beating expectations on the strength of Super Bowl advertising and its popular broadband service....

The American economy grew slower than predicted in the first quarter, as government spending cuts offset a pickup in consumer spending.

Exxon Mobil Corp. earned less money in the first quarter as costs rose and the Irving oil giant produced less oil and natural gas. Net income dropped to $9.45 billion, or $2 a share, from $10.65 billion, or $2.14 a share, a year ago. Still, revenue rose to $124.05 billion from $114 billion last year.