Fourth Quarter | featured news

Retail sales fell in October for the first time in three months as superstorm Sandy slammed the brakes on automobile purchases, suggesting a loss of momentum in the fourth quarter.

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.

Barnes & Noble posted a loss for its fiscal fourth quarter on sales that barely inched higher. The loss, while narrower than the one a year earlier, was larger than expected and revenue growth fell short of hopes. Sales of the Nook e-reader fell.

Bed Bath & Beyond reported a 24% climb in fiscal-fourth-quarter profit on improving sales and restrained operating costs.

Target Corp. is reporting a 5.2 percent drop in earnings for the fourth quarter, as the retailer pushed big discounts to get tight-fisted shoppers to buy during the holiday season.

The iPhone helped Sprint gain customers in the latest quarter, but also forced the carrier to post its largest loss in three years because of the high cost of the phone and a network upgrade.

Fourth-quarter profit at Wells Fargo rose 20% as the banking giant posted more loan growth and again reduced the amount of money it sets aside to cover potential loan losses.

New claims for unemployment benefits edged down last week, according to a government report on Thursday that pointed to a modest improvement in the labor market at the start of the fourth quarter.

Drugstore operator Walgreen Co. says its fiscal fourth-quarter profit jumped 69 percent, boosted in part by a gain from the sale of its pharmacy benefits management business.