Earnings & Sales Reports, Earnings | featured news

U.S. stock futures rose as better-than-expected earnings reports from Research In Motion and Oracle late Thursday reinforced confidence in the ability of companies to increase profits next year.

Campbell Soup's earnings rose 17% as margins improved and without expenses that weighed on year-earlier results. But soup revenue fell in the absence of product introductions that boosted last year's sales.

Third-quarter earnings at the retailer fell 8.9 percent amid weak housing and renovation markets, but the retailer raised its full-year outlook.

Target's earnings rose 18%, snapping a streak of eight quarterly declines, as the discount retailer saw improvement in its retail and credit-card operations. Saks swung to a $1.9 million profit.

Revenue and profit were up at Wal-Mart, but sales fell 0.4 percent at stores open at least a year.

Chrysler broke even in September and finished the month with more cash than it had at the end of June, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.

Though it has resisted the slump better than most oil companies, Exxon’s profit fell 68 percent in the quarter.

The New York Times Company reported a $35.6 million loss for the third quarter on falling advertising revenue, but deep cost-cutting and newspaper price increases helped beat projections.

Aircraft maker Boeing blames a net loss of $1.6bn (£974m) on rising production costs and poor market conditions.

Bank of America Corp. says it lost more than $2 billion in the third quarter as its loan losses continued to rise.