Shares of e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) are trading lower in after hours trading despite posting better than expected earnings this afternoon for its fourth quarter.

Going into this afternoon's earnings release, analysts were expecting to see Amazon show earnings of 72 cents per share, on revenues of $9.04 billion in revenues.

Fast food giant McDonald's (MCD) reported its fourth quarter numbers this morning. The company was able to outpace analyst estimates, pushing shares higher in premarket trading.

The world's biggest fast-food chain earned $1.22 billion, or $1.11 per share, 23% more than last year's profit of $985.3 million, or 87 cents per share. But the results included a one-time benefit of 8 cents per share.

Alcoa Inc. (AA) kicked off earnings season last night -- with mixed results -- but Intel Corp. (INTC) will mark the unofficial beginning of the tech earnings season when it reports after the close on Thursday. Analysts are expecting per-share earnings of 30 cents, a wide improvement over the fourth quarter of 2008, when Intel banked four cents per share.

Although January options do not expire until Friday (the day after Intel reports), some option traders chose to scoop up call positions in the February series during Monday's trading. These later-dated options provide a little more time value and a few more weeks for Intel to make a move.

Shares of athletic giant Nike, Inc. (NKE) are trading sharply higher after hours, following reporting better than expected earnings for its fiscal second quarter.

As we noted in our earnings preview, analysts had been expecting the company to show earnings of 71 cents per share, but the company outpaced these estimates with a reported 76 cents during the quarter, on revenues of $4.4 billion.

On Tuesday, electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) released third-quarter results, topping the Street's forecast along with raising guidance for the current fourth quarter. As a result, the stock fell more than 8%. Wait, what? Best Buy crushed the Street's estimate, reporting earnings of 53 cents per share when 43 cents per share was expected; reported increased sales of $12.02 billion, topping expectations for $11.98 billion; and upped its full-year earnings and revenue guidance to a range of $49 billion to $49.5 billion from $48 billion to $49 billion -- so why did the stock plunge?

Best Buy executives noted that profit margins would fall, thanks to shoppers buying more low-margin items like "cheap notebook computers and entry-level flat panel digital TVs." This strategy bothers some analysts, as Anthony Chukumba with FTN Equity Capital Markets noted that, "Best Buy is managing its business for gross margin dollars not the gross margin rate."

Retailer BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) stepped into the earnings spotlight this morning, reporting second-quarter earnings of 64 cents per diluted share. A year ago, BJ reported net income of 61 cents per diluted share, including three cents per share from favorable state income tax audit settlements.

During the first half of 2009, BJ raked in $1.09 per diluted share compared to 90 cents per diluted share a year ago. Quarterly sales slipped slightly more than 5% to $2.5 billion on a year-over-year basis, but the bulk retailer did forecast full-year sales to increase 0.5% to 1.5%. On the forecast front, BJ now expects full-year earnings between $2.46 and $2.56, which is higher than the previously forecast $2.44 to $2.54.

Shares of e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) are selling off sharply this afternoon after disappointing Wall Street with its second quarter numbers.

This afternoon's results shows the company posting a 10% drop in quarterly net profit, as the company was hit by an unfavorable foreign currency translation and legal expenses related to its recent $51 million Toys R Us settlement.

This morning, oil firm Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) posted second-quarter earnings and a warning about North American natural gas markets. First things first, HAL reported second-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share (excluding a $12-million charge stemming from job cuts). While these results were far worse than the 55 cents per share the company earned a year ago, they still managed to top the consensus estimate by four cents per share. The situation was the same for quarterly revenue, which fell to $3.49 billion (from $4.49 billion a year ago) but still managed to outpace the Street's expectations - which called for $3.41 billion.

Game and toy maker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) had its chance to impress Wall Street with its second quarter results Monday morning, and the company indeed did not disappoint, posting stronger than expected earnings.

Spurred by strong sales of G.I. Joe and Transformers toys, the company reported a 5% jump in profit with earnings of 26 cents per share. Going into today's earnings report analysts had expected earnings of just 23 cents per share.

"This is a great time to be a banker," New York Times columnist Floyd Norris says, somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Jabs about bailouts and huge bonus payments aside, it's true that banking system is finally seeing rational pricing of risk -- and that means earnings power has greatly increased for deposit-taking banks. If you have a savings account or money market, you might have noticed that your interest payments have dried up to a pittance; the interest you aren't being paid is dropping through to banks' bottom lines.

Looking at today's earnings report from Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C), for example, is useful to see how the economics of the industry function, and whether Citicorp -- the "good bank" as Citigroup works to split itself -- will live up to the promise CEO Vikram Pandit attributes to it. In a company press release, Pandit said, "Citicorp is our core franchise and will be the source of Citi's long term profitability and growth. Citicorp is unique with institutional and consumer businesses operating on an unmatched global footprint."

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), the huge producer of pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs and consumer healthcare products, reported earnings before the market opened today. Earnings per share for the second quarter of 2009 were $1.15 on $15.2 billion in revenue, compared to the $1.11 average and $1.14 high expected from analysts. The consensus revenue target was $15 billion, so the firm also beat on the top line despite seeing a single-digit percentage drop in revenues from last year.

Similar to consulting firm Accenture (NYSE: ACN), international results were hurt by foreign exchange effects, which offset nearly 4% operational growth overseas. Half of Johnson & Johnson's total revenues for the quarter came from outside the United States. Shares, which are down year-to-date and are underperforming the S&P 500, were up fractionally today in mid-day trading.

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), the first Dow Jones Industrial Component to report earnings, beat estimates when they announced after the bell -- or so the story goes. It continues that this touched off buying interest across the market that had been sorely lacking in prior sessions. There's only one problem: Alcoa's results weren't very good, and they didn't boost the market.

Alcoa opened trading today up more than 5.5% from its close yesterday, before it reported earnings. Going into the final minutes of trading, the stock was down more than 2% -- a tough reversal for those buying on the pop. The company reported a headline EPS of -$0.32, or -$0.26 excluding restructuring charges. This compared to analysts' consensus of -$0.38 on $3.9 billion in revenue.

Shares in homebuilder KB Home (NYSE: KBH) dropped more than 8% as of mid-day Friday following the company's earnings release. Earnings per share for the quarter ending May 31 were a loss of $1.03, or $78.4 million, on $384.5 million in revenue, compared to the $0.64 average loss expected from analysts. The expected earnings range was between a $0.03 and a $1.40 loss, reflecting uncertainty about the writedowns needed on home inventories, land, and joint ventures.

When the housing market was at its peak in 2006, KB Home's sales topped $3 billion in one quarter. The company has struggled since, as the worst housing market in generations has led to a decline in housing starts of more than 75% from the peak to the present.

Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN), a global consulting firm that also offers outsourcing and technology services, reported earnings after the close today. Earnings per share for the quarter ending May 31 were $0.68 on $5.15 billion in revenue, compared to the $0.64 average and $0.67 high expected from analysts. The consensus revenue target was $5.2 billion, and results were hurt by currency translation effects, which reduced U.S. dollar results by 12%. Year-over-year, EPS was down 8% from the $0.74 earned in the same quarter last year, with the difference again attributable to currency exchange.

Shares, which were up fractionally today, jumped almost 5% in after-hours trading following the earnings results.

Leading domestics retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) closed more than 9% higher today after the one-two punch of a well-received earnings report and a brokerage upgrade. The company announced first-quarter results of 34 cents per share, a whopping nine cents better than analysts were expecting. Revenue edged 2.8% higher year over year. The one gray lining was same-store sales numbers, which drifted 1.6% lower during the reporting period.

Reacting to this after-the-close earnings report, Cowen & Co. upgraded the shares this morning to "neutral" from "underperform." The brokerage noted that BBBY has been able to cut advertising expenses now that its chief competitor, LInens n' Things, has filed for bankruptcy. Cowen also notes that BBBY has reduced its payroll expenses.