Declining soup sales couldn't stem the tide of Campbell Soup's (CPB) earnings. The world's largest soup maker saw first-quarter earnings increase 17%, although soup sales dropped 3%.

The sultan of soup reported first-quarter earnings of 87 cents per share, six cents better than the consensus estimate. The strong results were attributed to lower costs and expenses. Unfortunately for Campbell, revenue did not meet expectations, totaling $2.2 billion when the Street expected $2.28 billion.

Speedy delivery service United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) delivered a mixed bag of third-quarter results on Thursday.

The company reported earnings of 55 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by two cents per share. While these results were better than the consensus estimate, they are a far cry from the 96 cents per share earned in the same quarter a year ago.

Quarterly sales came in at $11.15 billion, short of the consensus estimate of $11.17 billion and last year's $13.1 billion.

After the closing bell sounds this afternoon, LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) will report quarterly earnings. Expectations are pegged at a loss of 91 cents per share for the solar firm, so what can you expect in the wake of the report? Let's take a look at LDK's technical prospects and what an earnings miss or stronger-than-expected earnings could do for the company.

First things first, LDK manufactures and sells solar wafers to other solar manufacturers, both in China (the company's home) and across the globe. The company performed well in the past, when the new global conscience had companies and individuals looking for cleaner forms of energy. Unfortunately, this little thing called a recession occurred, pulling many customers away from LDK and hurting the company on the bottom line.

Late yesterday, MetLife (NYSE: MET) announced a second-quarter net loss of $1.74 per share, compared to earnings of $1.26 per share a year ago. The company blamed the loss on derivative losses of $1.8 billion, $1 billion of which was related to an increase in the company's own debt in the second quarter. Excluding charges, MET earned 88 cents per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate by 20 cents. The insurer's premiums, fees, and other revenue increased 4% to $8.38 billion thanks to a record amount of money spent in variable annuity products.

Variable annuities can be described as a contract between the purchaser and the insurance company. The insurer agrees to make payments to the purchaser either immediately or at a future date. Investment options for variable annuities are usually a mutual fund that invests in stocks, bonds, money market instruments, or a combination of the three.

This morning, Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported its first-ever quarterly net profit, sparking a flurry of activity in the firm's stock. In the latest quarter, ALU earned $2.8 million, or 0.01 euro per share. The Street expected ALU to lose 0.08 euro per share during the quarter.

This news is all well and good, but adjusted earnings showed a loss of 62 million euros compared to expectations for a loss of 36 million euros. Nevertheless, the stock traded higher in post-market trading and also opened higher this morning.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) stepped into the earnings spotlight this morning, announcing that its second-quarter loss checked in at 69 cents per share (68 cents per share excluding charges). A year ago, the bank lost $2.71 per share in the second quarter. Although the results were better than those from a year ago, they were not better than the consensus estimate, which called for a loss of 41 cents per share.

The company also announced that it was cutting the amount of preferred shares that it plans to exchange by 71%. KeyCorp's CEO (Henry Meyer III) stated that the company's results "reflect the weak economic environment and the steps that it has taken to address issues in credit quality, strengthen capital and control costs." Like many regional banks, KeyCorp suffered thanks to the credit crunch; even though the bank was not a major player in the subprime-mortgage fiasco. The company added that loan-loss provisions were $850 million, which was 31% greater than a year ago.

Back on tax day, my friend and colleague Elizabeth Harrow wondered if Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) would announce job cuts when it reports earnings tomorrow. Ms. Harrow looked at a report in The New York Times about preparations for a "significant round of layoffs" and then took a look at the option activity on the Internet search portal a week ahead of earnings.

Something that Elizabeth noted was the fact that the 15 strike was going to assume the mantle of peak call open interest when the market opens for trading festivities today. This level could be a major sticking point for the stock, as Yahoo hasn't closed atop the $15 level since late 2008.