Among the companies with shares expected to trade actively in Friday's session are Google parent Alphabet Inc., McDonald's Corp., AutoNation Inc. and Boston Beer Co.

 

Alphabet said profit rose 20% in the first three months of the year, but the results fell short of analyst estimates as higher losses from the company's investments in new projects and the stronger U.S. dollar offset higher advertising.

 

Microsoft Corp.'s profit fell 25% in the third quarter, as the company reported lower operating results across several of its business lines.

 

McDonald's reported a jump in first-quarter profit that easily topped expectations as all-day breakfast continued to attract customers--more evidence that the company's turnaround efforts are paying off.

 

General Electric Co. reported growth in revenue and core earnings for its first quarter, though profit in its industrials business slid on declines in its transportation, power and oil-and-gas segments.

 

Caterpillar Inc. pared its earnings and revenue forecasts for the year as demand for its construction and mining equipment remained sluggish through the first quarter, with little sign of challenges easing this year.

 

Honeywell International Inc. reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings in the first quarter, boosted in part by strength in China.

 

Starbucks Corp.'s second-quarter profit rose 16% as the coffee chain drew in more mobile users in the U.S.. Still, sales missed Wall Street views.

 

Visa Inc. lowered its forecast for the year, warning it sees weakness in China, Brazil and oil-based economies.

 

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has reached a deal to allow a new joint venture in China to produce chips in that country using proprietary technology long considered the crown jewel of AMD and its rival Intel Corp. AMD also released first-quarter financial results, which were slightly better than expected.

 

American Airlines Group Inc. said its profits continued to benefit from lower fuel prices, but revenue was hurt by weakness in Latin America.

 

AutoNation, the largest operator of automotive dealerships in the U.S., reported a 14% drop in its first-quarter profit as a slight uptick in incentives and costs associated with hail damage weighed on results.

 

Biogen Inc.'s first-quarter profit rose 18% thanks to higher sales of multiple-sclerosis drug Tecfidera and lower expenses.

 

Boston Beer Co. said its earnings were nearly cut in half in the first three months of the year as the maker of Samuel Adams Boston Lager faces increased competition from brewers of craft beers.

 

Boyd Gaming Corp. is buying Aliante casino, hotel and spa in North Las Vegas for $380 million. Lenders took over the casino, then known as the Aliante Station, in 2011 as part of Station Casino's bankruptcy reorganization.

 

Concordia Healthcare Corp. said it has formed a special committee to assess "various strategic alternatives" for the company. The Canadian pharmaceutical company issued the statement after regulators halted the stock following a report by Bloomberg that Blackstone Group is in early-stage buyout talks.

 

Hanesbrands Inc.'s first-quarter profit rose sharply, bolstered by higher sales and operational savings from a series of acquisitions.

 

Kimberly-Clark Corp. reported lower first-quarter sales as the maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers took another currency hit, but profit rose thanks to cost savings and a lower tax rate.

 

Norfolk Southern Corp. reported a better-than-expected 25% profit increase in the first quarter, less than two weeks after Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. abandoned its nearly $30 billion pursuit of the rail transportation company.

 

Schlumberger Ltd., the largest oil-field services outfit, laid off another 2,000 employees during the first three months of the year, as quarterly profit dropped 49% on significantly lower sales.

 

Sears Holdings Corp. will close another 78 U.S. stores as it tries to return to profitability after five consecutive years of losses. The Illinois-based retailer, which had already flagged 50 stores for closing in a push to cut up to $650 million in expenses, on Thursday said it would close 68 Kmart stores and 10 Sears stores, with most of those stores slated to close in late July.

 

Skechers USA Inc. reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal first quarter with revenue increasing 27%, in part due to growth in its international wholesale business.

 

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com and George Stahl at george.stahl@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2016 09:44 ET (13:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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