United Continental
The expenses of combining the two airlines led to a $325 million loss in the fourth quarter. Excluding those costs, United Continental earned $160 million, or 44 cents per share, topping the expectations of Wall Street analysts, as passengers paid more to fly. Revenue for each seat flown one mile rose 11.5 percent.
Revenue rose 15 percent to $8.4 billion.
Eastman Kodak
Fourth-quarter net income tumbled 95 percent from a large gain a year ago, and it missed Wall Street expectations.
Kodak said Wednesday it earned $22 million, or 8 cents a share, in the October-December period. That compares with a profit of $443 million, or $1.40 a share, a year earlier when results swelled because of royalty revenue from digital- imaging inventions.
Sales sank 25 percent to $1.93 billion.
ConocoPhillips
Fourth-quarter net income jumped 54 percent as oil prices increased and its refining operations turned a profit.
The Houston company reported net income of $2 billion, or $1.39 per share, for the final three months of 2010. That compares with $1.3 billion, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue grew 22 percent to $53.2 billion.
Excluding special items, Conoco said it earned $1.9 billion, or $1.32 per share, in the period. Analysts, who typically exclude special items, expected earnings of $1.29 per share.
Starbucks
Growing popularity with coffee drinkers around the world helped boost its first-quarter net income nearly 44 percent. Starbucks reported after the market closed Wednesday that it earned $346.6 million, or 45 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Jan. 2. That’s up from $241.5 million, or 32 cents per share, earned in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose nearly 8 percent to $3 billion.
The results beat analysts’ average estimates of 39 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Boeing
Profit in 2011 will be hurt by delays to its new 787 and higher pension expenses, the airplane-maker said. Boeing also said its fourth-quarter profit fell 8 percent to $1.16 billion. Revenue dropped 8 percent to $16.55 billion. The profit worked out to $1.56 per share, down from $1.75 per share a year earlier.
Xerox
Fourth-quarter earnings dipped 5 percent from a year ago, largely because of the costs of restructuring. The company’s shares slid Wednesday on a modest financial outlook.
In the last three months of 2010, Xerox earned $171 million, or 12 cents per share. That’s down from $180 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 42 percent to nearly $6 billion.
Stripping out one-time expenses, earnings would have been 29 cents per share, a penny better than analysts surveyed by FactSet expected.
