Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) said it racked up a loss of 164.7 billion yen ($1.81 billion), down sharply from the 458.6 billion yen profit it had the same period the previous year as quarterly sales plunged 28.4%. The world's largest automaker said it was heading for its first annual net loss since 1950 because of plunging global sales and the strong yen. TM shares declined 4.9% in premarket trade.News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) shares sank over 9% in pre-market trading after it reported Thursday after the close its biggest quarterly loss. While most of it was due to a writedown, it still missed the 19 cents expected earnings per share when it reported earnings of 12 cents per share excluding items. Revenue declined 8.4%, also missing estimates.
Hartford Financial Group (NYSE: HIG) declined over 20% in premarket trading after it reported Thursday afternoon an $806 million quarterly loss and cut its dividend. The insurer also issued 2009 earnings guidance mostly below Wall Street's expectations.
JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) shares retreated around 7% after it reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $705.3 million, or $3.28 a share. Revenue fell 10.5% to $357 million. Excluding items, JDS Uniphase would have earned $24.8 million, or 11 cents a share, inline with estimates, but it issued a sales forecast that came short of analysts' estimates.
Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by UBS. Shares gained over 1% in premarket trade.










