JC Penney reported a bigger quarterly loss and lower revenue than expected. CEO Mike Ullman vowed to put the retailer "back on a path to profitable growth."
Chrysler saw earnings growth slow last quarter. The lower profit was expected as Chrysler shipped fewer vehicles, handled higher costs due to the launch of new models, and saw its mix of sales shift more toward less profitable cars.
Amazon's numbers were helped by growing sales of digital content, cloud-computing services and gains in its main retail business. Shares wavered after-hours.
Online-travel agency Expedia beta on earnings but warned of a lower full-year profit from its discount travel website Hotwire due to higher car-rental rates and competition.
"The quality of earnings is in question right now," said Ashwani Kaul, Kaul Advisory Group, discussing recent results, with Jason Trennert, Strategas Research Partners; and Greg Ip, The Economist.
"A divestiture in Europe account for more than half of those revenue differences", said Andrew Liveris, President, Chairman & CEO of Dow Chemical, discussing his company's first quarter results.
Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M missed Wall Street's earnings estimates and cut its 2013 profit forecast, citing weakening demand for electronics products as well as foreign currency fluctuations.
Hans Olsen, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, explains why he believes gains in the S&P 500 are unsustainable, and offers suggestions on how investors can best position their portfolios at this time.
The euro zone's biggest bank Santander on Thursday posted a 25.9 percent drop in net profit from a year ago to 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion), missing analyst forecasts in a Reuters poll.
Gary Kelly, Chairman, President & CEO of Southwest Airlines, discusses his company's first quarter results, and explains how the sequester squeeze is impacting airline delays.