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.

Quarterly earnings could be up year-over-year by the fourth quarter. A low threshold for improvement, as a result of last year's Q3 financial meltdown, could set the stage for the appearance of a recovery, but the ride from here to there will be a difficult one.

Data from Bloomberg and S&P suggests that profits for stocks comprising the S&P 500 Index may be down 21% next quarter. It's still a double-digit blow, but a better result than Q2's estimated 34% -- and far ahead of Q1's 60% year-over-year fall in profits. The driver of a recovery, however concealed by low expectations, is likely to be a combination of unemployment and consumer spending. Last month, we saw unemployment reach a 26-year high, putting obvious constraints on purchasing.

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.

Athletic apparel company Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) struck a pose in the earnings confessional today, announcing revenue and earnings per share for the fiscal first quarter.

Net revenue jumped 6% to $81.7 million, while same-store sales slipped 8% lower. Profit, meanwhile, fell to $6.5 million, or nine cents per share, down from 12 cents in the year-earlier period but one penny ahead of analysts' estimates.

Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW) reported first-quarter results after the close Monday. Earnings dropped 47% compared to a year ago. Although earnings contracted due to fewer customers, cost-cutting measures helped the company top the consensus estimate and forecast solid second-quarter earnings.

First-quarter earnings checked in at 10 cents per share for the quarter, down from 19 cents per share a year ago but far better than the Street's forecast loss of a penny per share. Quarterly sales dropped 6% to $464.1 million from $491.1 million a year ago, as clothing product sales dropped 7.6%. Nevertheless, sales topped the consensus estimate of $459.3 million.

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) programmed some time for itself in the earnings confessional this afternoon, announcing first-quarter earnings results that topped analysts' estimates.

Service and technology revenue totaled $48.5 million, edging out Street expectations of $48.2 million. TiVo posted a net loss of $4.1 million, or four cents per share, two cents better than the six-cent loss analysts were expecting. Results were lower, however, in comparison to the company's year-ago profit of $3.6 million, or four cents per share. TiVo added 37,000 subscribers in the period (down from 48,000 in last year's first quarter) and churn rate was 1.4%.

Shares of discount retailer Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) have been soaring today after the company reported strong first quarter numbers, and raised its future guidance.

It is no secret that shoppers are looking for bargain deals these days, and that trend resulted in a 3% jump in same store sales for Ross, and a 15% jump in its first quarter earnings. The company's earnings came in at 72 cents per share, which was in line with analyst estimates, and its revenues were above what Wall Street was looking to see.

Video-game retailer GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is seeing quite a sell-off in the wake of its first-quarter earnings report. This morning, GME reported net income of $70.4 million, or 42 cents per share, topping year-ago results by a nickel per share and beating analysts' estimates by a penny. Sales were on the upswing as well, gaining 9% to $1.98 billion to match Street expectations (same-store sales dropped 1.5%).

While all seemed fairly well and good for this reporting period, the future isn't quite so bright. Company officials project per-share earnings of 28 to 33 cents, falling considerably shy of the 40 cents expected by analysts. What's more, same-store sales are now projected to drop between 8% and 11%.

After the closing bell yesterday, PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) announced that its first-quarter profit increased 12%. The results were driven by higher merchandise and service sales.

PETM earned $46.3 million, or 37 cents per share -- a nickel better than last year's same-quarter results. The firm also topped Wall Street's expectations, which called for earnings of 30 cents per share. Quarterly revenue increased 9% to $1.33 billion, which fell short of the consensus estimate of revenue of $1.35 billion.

The company's merchandise sales increased 9% to $1.18 billion, with pet service sales increasing 10% to $142.8 million.

Women's apparel retailer AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE: ANN) was the latest retailing name to announce its quarterly earnings results. This morning, the company reported a first-quarter loss of $2.31 million, or four cents per share, as sales slumped 28% during the reporting period. This compares to net income of $25.90 million (43 cents per share) ANN earned in the year-earlier quarter.

On the plus side, the four-cent loss easily topped Wall Street estimates; analysts were expecting a loss of 13 cents per share. Sales, on the other hand, fell 28% to $426.75 million, falling shy of the consensus view of $454.66 million. Same-store sales at the namesake chain were down 42.7% while LOFT sales were off 24.2%. Personally, I prefer LOFT as a cheaper, slightly less conservative option, and evidently my fellow shoppers feel the same way.

TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) -- parent of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Home Goods, and other stores in which budget-conscious fashionistas scramble for bargains -- demonstrated that it is budget-minded as well today when it reported its latest quarterly earnings figures.

The company's first-quarter profit rose 8% on a year-over-year basis to $209.2 million, or 49 cents per share. Overall sales ticked up 1% to $4.35 billion, while same-store sales rose 2%. Earnings numbers were roughly on par with Street estimates, while sales were slightly ahead of the mark -- analysts were expecting per-share results of 49 cents on $4.32 billion in sales.

When is a 97% drop in profit not necessarily a bad thing? Well, when the company still manages to top expectations of course. This unlikely scenario has unfolded for Michigan-based chemical firm Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW).

Let's deal with the 97% profit drop first. This massive fall was triggered by falling sales, job cuts and the company's acquisition of Rohm & Haas, a specialty chemicals firm that Dow took over.

Early this morning, Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) released its quarterly earnings, handily surpassing the Street's expectations thanks to a rise in first-quarter results. The hotelier announced first-quarter earnings of 25 cents per share, a penny better than a year ago. However, taking restructuring charges out of the equation, WYN would have earned 41 cents per share, far better than the expected 36 cents per share. These results are in stark contrast to a loss in the previous quarter, thanks to the realignment of the company's vacation ownership business and other cost-cutting measures. Quarterly revenue fell to $901 million.

Looking ahead, WYN forecast adjusted second-quarter earnings of 36 cents to 41 cents per share and $1.61 to $1.85 per share for full fiscal 2009.