Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:
SBUX) said Thursday that its fiscal fourth-quarter net income surged 85%, helped by improving traffic and better margins. Net income jumped to $278.9 million, or 37 cents per share, from $150 million, or 20 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue increased 17.2% to $2.8 billion from $2.42 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 32 cents per share on revenue of $2.77 billion. Looking ahead, the company lifted its fiscal year 2011 outlook to a range of $1.41 to $1.47 per share from the previous forecast range of $1.36 to $1.41 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to report full-year earnings of $1.43 per share. Shares of the coffee giant rallied more than 2% in late trading.
Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:
KFT) reported Thursday that its third-quarter net income slipped 8% to $754 million, or 43 cents a share, from $824 million, or 55 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 47 cents a share in the latest quarter. Revenue rose 26% to $11.86 billion from $9.40 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 46 cents per share on revenue of $12.01 billion.
CBS Corp. (NYSE:
CBS) said Thursday that its third-quarter profit jumped 52% to $317.3 million, or 46 cents a share, from $207.6 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 35 cents a share in the latest quarter. Revenue decreased to $3.3 billion from $3.35 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 31 cents a share on revenue of $3.35 billion.
Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ:
ATVI) said Thursday that its third-quarter net income climbed to $51 million, or 4 cents a share, from $15 million, or 1 cent per share, in the prior-year quarter. Revenue grew 6% to $745 million from $703 million. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 12 cents a share on revenue of $857 million. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 9 cents per share on revenue of $750.00 million. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the company expects GAAP net revenues of $1.26 billion, and a GAAP loss per share of 1 cent. On a non-GAAP basis, the company expects net revenues of $2.2 billion and 47 cents earnings per diluted share for the fourth quarter. Analysts currently expect the company to report fourth-quarter earnings of 50 cents per share on revenues of $2.31 billion.