Time Warner, the media giant, said fourth-quarter net income rose 22% to $769 million, or 68 cents a share, from $631 million, or 53 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, earnings in the quarter were 67 cents a share. Revenue rose about 8% to $7.81 billion from $7.21 billion. The Wall Street consensus called for earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $7.48 billion. The stock was up 3.5% to $33.45.
Hershey Foods said fourth-quarter net income increased about 7% to $135.5 million, or 59 cents a share, from $126.8 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, earnings were 61 cents a share. Net sales increased about 5% to $1.48 billion from $1.41 billion the year before. Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 61 cents a share on revenue of $1.48 billion. Shares of the company were unchanged at $47.14 in premarket trading Wednesday.
Mattel said fourth-quarter net income fell about 1% to $325.2 million, or 89 cents a share, from $328.4 million, or 89 cents, a year earlier. Net sales rose 9% to $2.12 billion from $1.96 billion. Analysts, on average, expected Mattel to report earnings of 86 cents a share on revenue of $2.09 billion. Mattel shares rose 1.5% to $24.50 in early trading.
Whirlpool, the appliance maker, said fourth-quarter earnings jumped 80% despite a dip in sales in North America. Whirlpool shares fell 4.5% to $81.61 in premarket trading Wednesday.
Borders Group could file for bankruptcy protection as soon as next week, according to Bloomberg. Shares of Borders were falling 14.9% to 40 cents in premarket trading Wednesday.
NaviSite agreed to be acquired by Time Warner Cable for $230 million. NaviSite shares surged 32.5% to $5.47 in premarket trading Wednesday. Time Warner cable finished the previous trading session at $68.73, up 1.3%.
GlaxoSmithKline said Wednesday it sold its entire stake in Quest Diagnostics for $1.7 billion. Quest Diagnostics was flat at $56.95 in premarket trading. GlaxoSmithKline was down 1% to $37 early Wednesday.
Yum! Brands is scheduled to report quarterly earnings after the markets close Wednesday. The company is expected to have a difficult conference call because of the recent Taco Bell lawsuit claiming its taco beef is only 35% beef and the rest is fillers. Yum! stock was up 0.9% to $47.83 in premarket trading.
Visa reports its quarterly results after the closing bell. The current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters is for a profit of $1.21 a share on revenue of $2.23 billion in the December period. The credit card issuer has beat Wall Street's profit expectations in the past eight quarters. The stock was up 0.4% to $71 in premarket trading.
Amazon is working towards a film streaming service that would put it in direct competition with Netflix, according to the Financial Times. Shares of Amazon were down 0.2% to $171.80 during premarket trading, while Netflix fell 1.3% to $210.20.
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Northern, WI 6/25/12 (StreetBeat) -- The Hershey Co. (NYSE:HSY) on Monday said it is now targeting $10 billion in net sales by the end of 2017. The company will be focusing on five core brands globally - Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers - as part of a new strategy. "Our marketplace and financial results over the last few years validate our consumer-driven approach to core brand investment in both U.S. and key international markets," said CEO John Bilbrey in a statement.