Fourth Quarter Earnings | featured news

Toy maker Hasbro says its fourth-quarter revenue failed to meet expectations because of weaker-than-expected demand over the holidays.

Netflix stock is on its way to its biggest one-day gain since the video subscription service went public more than a decade ago. The stock had climbed $38.40, or 37 percent, to $141.66 in early afternoon trading Thursday as investors celebrated a fourth-quarter earnings report that Netflix Inc. released late Wednesday. Earlier in the session, the shares hit a new 52-week high of $149.17.

Samsung Electronics is expected to announce its Q4 results on January 25. The electronics giant has already given a sneak peek into its earnings, announcing earlier this month that its operating profits grew close to 90% y-o-y to a record 8.8 trillion Won ($8.3 billion) during the holiday quarter.

Apple Inc missed revenue expectations for the third straight quarter after sales of its flagship iPhone came in below Wall Street's targets, driving its shares down 6 percent.

If the latest week of earnings season has told investors anything, it is that strong banks and energy companies are getting stronger, while weaker banks and technology companies are far from conquering the challenges they have faced in the last few years.

EBay Inc reported holiday quarter results that just beat Wall Street expectations, but the e-commerce company also gave a cautious forecast for 2013. EBay shares climbed 1.7 percent to $53.80 in after-hours trading following the announcement. Expectations were high ahead of the results because sales data from outside sources suggested strong sales growth from eBay's online marketplace and a solid increase in transactions processed by the company's PayPal payments business.

The bottom is falling out of economic forecasters' expectations for U.S. economic growth in the final months of 2012. And if some of the more bearish estimates prove accurate, it will be the weakest rate of growth since the start of 2011.

Apple Inc. regained some momentum in its fourth quarter, selling more iPhones than expected while triggering some concerns about the iPad. But the results ratcheted up the pressure on the company for the current holiday quarter. The company is preparing to market a new set of products and is grappling with making enough iPhones.

Walgreen's fiscal-fourth-quarter earnings fell 55% as less customer traffic at the drugstore chain contributed to a steeper-than-expected sales decline.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) had a bigger gain in multiyear software deals than analysts predicted last quarter, a sign that businesses are flocking to the company’s programs as consumers delay purchases or opt for competitors.