ConocoPhillips
Second- quarter earnings fell 76 percent amid sharply lower prices from a year earlier, when the sector was in the midst of an unprecedented boom. The energy company’s refining segment also swung to a loss on lower volumes and margins.
ConocoPhillips reported a profit of $1.3 billion, or 87 cents a share, down from $5.4 billion, or $3.50 a share, a year earlier. The latest period included a $192 million gain related to its 20 percent stake in Russian oil giant OAO Lukoil Holdings.
Revenue tumbled 50 percent to $35.4 billion.
Time Warner
Second-quarter earnings beat Wall Street forecasts Wednesday despite a declining advertising market, as its Turner cable networks held up better than expected and “The Hangover” became a box-office hit.
Time Warner, which also owns the Warner Bros. movie studio, the HBO and Turner cable networks and Time Inc. magazines, earned $519 million, or 43 cents per share, in the three months ended in June. That’s down 34 percent from $792 million, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier.
Sprint Nextel
Investors pummeled the wireless carrier’s shares Wednesday after Sprint said it continued to hemorrhage some of its most valuable customers.
Chief executive Dan Hesse said he wasn’t happy about the net quarterly loss of 257,000 subscribers, including 991,000 customers who sign annual contracts and are generally the most profitable.
But he noted the losses are slowing.
Sprint reported a loss of $384 million, or 13 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30, versus a loss of $344 million, or 12 cents per share, a year ago.
General Dynamics
Second-quarter earnings edged down 3.6 percent from results that included one-time gains a year ago, but the defense contractor’s profits still surpassed Wall Street expectations.
General Dynamics reported earnings of $618 million, or $1.60 per share, compared with $641 million, or $1.60 per share, a year ago. The year- ago results included a 9-cents- per-share gain from tax benefits.
Revenue grew nearly 11 percent to $8.1 billion on higher sales in its divisions that make armored vehicles, tanks and submarines.
IAC/InterActiveCorp
The company behind such Internet properties as , Ask and Citysearch, posted a second-quarter profit that fell short of analyst expectations and indicated the online ad market is still weak.
IAC, led by media mogul Barry Diller, said it earned $40.8 million, or 28 cents per share, in the quarter that ended June 30. During the same period last year, IAC booked a big loss — $422 million, or $3.02 per share — largely because it wrote down the value of a catalog business.
