Earnings highlights: GE, Alcoa, Circuit City, UPS, Dell, DuPont, AMD and others

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) beat second-quarter estimates on increased productivity and new products.
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) cut its outlook and announced job cuts.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) missed first-quarter earnings estimates but beat revenue expectations.
Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) surprised Wall Street by posting a second-quarter profit.
Dell Inc.'s (NASDAQ: DELL) rosy 2008 forecast is based on cost cuts, overseas growth, share buybacks.
DuPont & Co. (NYSE: DD) raised its first-quarter outlook on strength in agriculture and emerging markets.
Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) raised its first-quarter guidance on strong sales and higher prices.
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering (NASDAQ: EXFO) beat estimates and announced an acquisition.
Foundry Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FDRY) slashed its first-quarter outlook, blaming the weak economy.
Genentech Inc. (NYSE: DNA) beat first-quarter earnings estimates, but not revenue expectations.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) missed earnings expectations and lowered its guidance.
Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) trimmed its first-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts.
Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) beat estimates though first-quarter profits fell due to lower premiums.
Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) swung to a loss in the fourth quarter on acquisition costs and a tax charge.

Schawk Inc. (NYSE: SGK) posted mixed results due in part to the Hollywood writers strike.
Sealy Corp. (NYSE: ZZ) posted better-than-expected first-quarter results on international sales.
SonoSite Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) forecast swinging to a first-quarter profit on international growth.
United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) lowered its first-quarter forecast due to weakness in the U.S. economy.
WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC) missed second-quarter estimates and lowered its outlook.

Also, Jim Cramer takes GE's disappointing results as a reminder that earnings matter. Weak financial performance at Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) hits the CEO in the pocketbook, and analysts don't like the prospects for MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) and other casinos. Jonathan Berr looks back at analysts' earnings forecasts in the previous quarter. And here's a look at big banks reporting results next week.

Upcoming results to watch for include Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), IBM (NYSE: IBM), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Capital One (NYSE: COF), E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Harley Davidson (NYSE: HOG), Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Schlumbeger (NYSE: SLB), Wachovia (NYSE: WB), and Xerox (NYSE: XRX).

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Joseph Lazzaro	114	0
2	Tom Johansmeyer	102	3
3	Connie Madon	51	0
4	Steven Mallas	43	0
5	Tom Taulli	42	0
6	Mark Fightmaster	42	0
7	Trey Thoelcke	32	0
8	Steven Halpern	32	0
9	Melly Alazraki	26	0
10	Paul Foster	25	0
11	Zac Bissonnette	23	0
12	Brent Archer	22	0
13	Jon Ogg	22	0
14	Brian White	22	0
15	Jim Cramer	22	0
16	Elizabeth Harrow	19	0
17	Eric Buscemi	17	0
18	Sheldon Liber	13	0
19	Beth Gaston Moon	8	0
20	Michael Fowlkes	8	0

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