Shares of insurance giant The Allstate Corporation (ALL) are trading sharply lower in after hours trading after the company reported weaker than expected Q4 results this afternoon.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the company report earnings of $0.88, but actual results came in much lower than expected at just $0.55 per share.

Shares of grocer chain Winn-Dixie (WINN) traded a bit lower in after hours trading, despite the company posting better-than-expected earnings numbers Monday after the close.

Headed into the fiscal fourth quarter report, analysts had been expecting to see earnings of 15 cents per share. Actual earnings easily topped estimates at 25 cents per share. During the same period last year, the company had earnings of 17 cents per share.

Shares of biotech giant Amgen, Inc. (AMGN) are trading slightly higher in after hours trading this afternoon after the company delivered better than expected earnings for its second quarter.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see Amgen report $1.30 per share, but the company was able to beat out analyst estimates by reporting an actual $1.38 for the quarter.

Shares of insurance giant Aflac Inc. (AFL) were slightly higher in after-hours trading Tuesday following the company's announcement of better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

After the market close Aflac posted earnings per share of $1.35 for its first quarter, which was slightly higher than the $1.32 that analysts had forecast for the company's quarter. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $1.22 per share.

This afternoon tech giant Oracle Corporation (ORCL) reported its fiscal third quarter numbers, and as analysts expected it was a strong quarter for the California based company, which easily outpaced analyst estimates.

As we noted in our Oracle earnings preview, analysts had been expecting to see the company post earnings of $0.35 per share. The company's actual earnings came in at $0.38 per share, excluding one-time items.

Shares of semiconductor giant Qualcomm (QCOM) traded sharply lower Wednesday afternoon after the company's fiscal first quarter earnings report during which QCOM lowered its second quarter forecast.

As we noted in our QCOM earnings preview, analysts were expecting to see the company post earnings of 56 cents per share for its fiscal first quarter, and the company was able to outpace estimates by showing earnings of 62 cents per share excluding items.

Semiconductor maker Applied Materials (AMAT) reported its fiscal fourth quarter numbers this afternoon following the market close, and the company easily outpaced analyst estimates.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 3 cents per share, but the company surprised to the upside by posting actual Q4 earnings of 13 cents.

Shares of Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) are trading up in after hours trading today after the company posted strong Q4 earnings numbers after the market close.

As we noted in our earnings preview, the company was expected to show earnings for the quarter of 21 cents per share on $2.39 billion in revenues. The actual numbers came in at 24 cents per share with revenues of $2.4 billion.

Following today's market close, technology giant Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) had its chance to impress Wall Street with its fiscal first quarter results, and the company did not disappoint.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 31 cents per share, but the company surprised to the upside by posting actual earnings of 36 cents per share for its fiscal first quarter. For the same period last year the company had earnings of 42 cents per share.

Agricultural manufacturer Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is trading slightly lower in after hours trading this afternoon after the company posted lower than expected earnings for its fiscal first quarter.

Going into this afternoon's release, analysts had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 35 cents per share, but the company came in well below this estimate, with actual earnings of just 23 cents per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $2.65 per share.

This afternoon, Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) reported its fiscal first quarter numbers, and the company was able to put up better than expected earnings numbers, but revenues came in slightly under expectations.

As we noted in our earnings preview yesterday, analysts had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 97 cents per share, and the actual earnings figure was a bit higher at $1.04 per share. For the same period last year the company showed earnings of $1.03 per share.

Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) posted better-than-expected fiscal third quarter results Tuesday after the close. Still, shares were down close to 5% in after-hours trading as the chipmaker reported lower than expected margins in the quarter.

The company earned 22 cents per share in the quarter, higher than the 20 cents per share analysts had been expecting. In addition, the company also reported higher revenue numbers than the consensus Street's forecasts.

Semiconductor Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) had its turn in the earnings parade this afternoon, and the company put up dismal results that failed to meet analyst expectations.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the company show a loss of $0.09 per share, but the actual EPS for the quarter was a greater loss, one of $0.18 per share.

Apple always has to be different. But today, everyone cheered as the company brought out a version of their pretty laptop, the MacBook, in matt black (yes, that's the same finish as your boring old PC). Our sister site, Engadget, took the MacBook for a spin and declared it "a pretty freaking great value" (but they're not doing black, for the record). The Apple Insider hails the removable (by an actual user!) hard disks. No more purely cosmetic screws!

It wasn't all black hearts and roses, though; MacWorld UK today mourned the locking down of OS X. Thanks to concerns of piracy, Apple closed down its open source code so that developers can no longer tinker with its operating system. Bad for pirates is also bad for very advanced users; says Tom Yager, "there are ways to address the piracy issue without stripping the critical and defining quality of openness from OS X."

AAPL stock responded by ticking up 25 cents to $65.26 on lower-than-average volume. Evidently the market, while intrigued, isn't ready to jump unreservedly on board for black is the new MacBook.

[Photo redjar]

Investors may finally have heard the credulity of people like me, Tim Beyers of Motley Fool, and any number of Microsoft employees. The stock traded up 27 cents, or 1.17%, to $23.44 on about-average volume. Of course, the stock still sits at its lowest price in the last four years, despite the fact that the company is both (a) profitable and (b) still dominating the world in its usual way.

Oddly, the price increase came on a day in which the Microsoft news was dominated by a rather negative spin; everyone is wondering why the company changed the name of MSN adCenter to Microsoft adCenter. Says Jennifer Slegg of Search Engine Watch, "I am not sure that rebranding from MSN to Microsoft is the best decision for adCenter, but it is certainly a decision that will get people talking." Evidently, talk is enough for a 1% runup. As Martha says, that's a good thing.