Discount retailer Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO) reported its fiscal second quarter results this morning, topping analyst estimates and sending the stock higher in premarket trading.

For the quarter, Family Dollar reported it earned 98 cents per share, topping analyst estimates by a penny. During the same period last year, the company earned 81 cents per share.

Shares of women's clothing retailer Chico's FAS Inc. (CHS) traded sharply higher Wednesday morning, despite missing its earnings estimate by one penny before the market opened.

Going into this fourth-quarter earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see earnings of $0.13 per share, but the company came up a bit shy at just $0.12.

After the closing bell sounded Wednesday, Seagate Technology (STX) reported its second-quarter results. The tech firm announced that it logged non-GAAP earnings of 33 cents per share ($159 million). The firm's earnings of 33 cents per share matched the consensus estimate, as did the firm's quarterly revenue of $2.72 billion.

STX also reported its performance during the six-month period that ended on Dec. 31, 2010. During this time, the firm's GAAP basis revenue was $5.4 billion, gross margin was 19.9%, net income totaled $299 million, and diluted earnings hit 61 cents per share.

Share of Oracle Corporation (ORCL) are up sharply in after hours trading following this afternoon's fiscal second quarter earnings report.

As we noted in our earnings preview earlier today, analysts had been expecting to see Oracle report Q2 earnings of $0.46 per share. Actual earnings came in above expectations at $0.51 per share, excluding special items.

Campbell Soup (CPB) reported its fiscal first quarter results Tuesday morning, and the stock was trading lower after the company's quarterly earnings came in under expectations.

Headed into this earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the company report $0.83 per share, but the Campbell's came up a little short, reporting actual earnings of $0.82.

Thursday, the company I fondly call the House of Mouse -- Walt Disney (DIS) -- released fourth-quarter earnings that eventually pushed the stock lower.

I am not as interested in the earnings results as I am in the news that my colleague Steven Mallas touched on in the first paragraph, the earnings were released earlier than expected. The company was supposed to report the earnings after the closing bell sounded, but the results were leaked nearly 30 minutes ahead of the final bell.

Shares of oil and gas company Andarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) are trading lower in after hours trading after the company reported lower than expected earnings for its third quarter.

Heading into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the company report earnings of $0.28 per share. Actual earnings were under the mark, at an adjusted $0.21 per share.

Friday morning, U.S. oil refiner Sunoco (SUN) announced that it logged a third-quarter profit rather than a loss like last year's results.

Sunoco pulled in 54 cents per diluted share ($65 million) in the most recent quarter, better than the loss of 29 cents per share from a year ago. On an adjusted basis, Sunoco earned 22 cents per share. The stronger results were attributed to an improvement in earnings from the steel-making coal and logistics businesses.

Shares of financial giant American Express (AXP) are trading lower in after hours trading despite a stronger than expected earnings report for its third quarter.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see American Express announce earnings of $0.86 per share, while actual earnings came in above estimates at $0.90 per share.

"After trading higher following its past nine quarterly earnings reports, investors finally found a reason to be disappointed in Apple (AAPL); however, despite the negative investor reaction, it was still an outstanding quarter from the tech giant," says Geoffrey Seiler.

The editor of BullMarket.com report, "Apple reported a fiscal Q4 profit of $4.31 billion, or $4.64 a share, up 70% from $2.53 billion, or $2.77 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue soared 67% to $20.3 billion. The results easily surpassed the analyst consensus of $4.08 in EPS on sales of $18.9 billion.

"One area of contention with investors was gross margins, which fell to 36.9% from 41.8% a year ago. Analysts were looking for gross margins of 38.1%. However, gross margins were 190 basis points above Apple's own guidance.