Some LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Mining equipment company Joy Global said first-quarter net income rose about 34% to $102 million, or 96 cents a share, from $76 million, or 73 cents a share in the prior year. Sales rose about 19% to $869.5 million from $729.2 million. Wall Street was looking for earnings of $1.07 a share on revenue of $881.1 million. Shares of Joy Global fell 3.3% to $94 in premarket trading Wednesday.

BJ's Wholesale Club said fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell about 81% to $10.2 million, or 19 cents a share, from $54.5 million, or $1.02 a share a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 95 cents a share. Net sales rose about 7% to $2.90 billion from $2.70 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 92 cents a share on revenue of $2.98 billion. Premarket quotes weren't available for the stock Wednesday. Shares of BJ's dipped 0.2% to $48.31 on Tuesday.

Staples, the office products retailer, said fiscal-fourth quarter earnings rose 17% as sales increased slightly. The stock rose 0.3% to $20.94 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Costco, the warehouse retailer, said fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 16% as comparable-store sales rose 7%, including fuel. Premarket quotes weren't available for Costco. The stock fell 1.6% to $73.62 on Tuesday.

Insurance company MetLife said AIG it was selling 146.8 million shares of common stock to the public in order to finalize the Alico transaction that closed last year. Shares of MetLife were falling 5% to $43.74 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Power company PPL reached an agreement to acquire the U.K.'s Central Networks electric distribution business from Germany's E.ON for 3.5 billion pounds in cash ($5.7 billion) and will assume 500 million pounds ($813.9 million) of debt. Premarket quotes weren't available for PPL. Shares of the company fell 2.1% to $24.90 on Tuesday.

Due to high oil prices, the International Air Transport Association has downgraded its airline industry outlook for 2011 to $8.6 billion from the $9.1 billion forecasted last December. This is a 46% fall in net profits from the $16 billion earned by the industry last year. "Political unrest in the Middle East has sent oil over $100 per barrel. That is significantly higher than the $84 per barrel that was the assumption in December," the international trade body explained in a prepared statement.

US Airways was rising 0.6% to $8 in premarket trading. Delta tumbled 5.6% to $10.61 at Tuesday's close, while AMR fell 2.7% to $6.56.

Electronic payment technology company Verifone Systems topped Wall Street's expectations for its fiscal first-quarter results. Premarket quotes weren't available for the stock. Shares rose 4.2% to $46.50 in after-hours trading Tuesday.

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