Before the bell: Earnings have soured mood again

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) said its first-quarter profit dipped 14% on acquisition-related charges, but it posted a 17% revenue gain to $3.47 billion that beat Wall Street forecasts. Excluding items, EMC's profit was $477.3 million, or 23 cents per share. Also, VMware (NYSE: VMW) reported a 5% profit rise on faster-than-forecast sales growth. The company is mostly held by EMC. EMC shares are up about 5.5% in premarket trading. VMW shares are up 13.75% in premarket trading.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM), spun off last month by Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) reported first-quarter earnings this morning, posting a 29% increase in profit to $1.87 billion, or 89 cents a share as new varieties of Marlboro cigarettes such as clove flavored ones as well as acquisitions spurred sales in Indonesia, Pakistan and Mexico. The weak dollar also helped boost the bottom line. Revenue climbed 18% to $15.6 billion. The results beat the 78 cents analysts were looking for. Altria reports quarterly results Thursday. While Altria now does all its business in the U.S. where smoking has been on the decline, cigarette companies tend to do well in a weak economy.

Last night we heard that eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is suing Craigslist for unfairly trying to dilute eBay's 28% stake in it by more than 10%. Craiglist today is firing back, saying the online auctioneer's actions are unethical and smelling of a hostile takeover.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) posted a 38% in crease in profit to $1.2 billion in the first quarter, or $1.62 per share. Its backlog of orders grew to a new record of $346 billion. Revenue rose 4% to $16 billion. The results beat analyst estimates of $1.35 earnings per shares but came lower on the revenue side.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is set to report international sales this morning. Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) has already reported that its global sales rose 2.7% from a year ago in the first quarter due to steady demand in Asia. While GM remains number one in annual global vehicle sales, Toyota has beat it in production last year. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) will report its first-quarter results Thursday and is expected to post yet another loss, while GM is forecast to report a large operating loss.

According to Forbes, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) said late Tuesday it has agreed to buy a boutique microprocessor design company called PA Semi, "known for its design of sophisticated, low-power chips." Naturally, this could might improve things at the already successful iPhones and iPods. Apple is reporting after the close today.