AP - Despite a $59 million loss and a slump in sales in the first quarter, Macy's Inc. on Wednesday posted results that beat Wall Street expectations because of what analysts said were tight controls on expenses and inventories.

AP - Deere & Co., the world's biggest maker of farm machinery, said Wednesday its second-quarter profit rose 22 percent, propelled by lofty crop prices that stoked global demand for its farm equipment despite a faltering U.S. economy.

AP - Freddie Mac beat Wall Street's expectations in the first quarter, but the mortgage finance company didn't vanquish concerns about its ability to weather the housing bust.

Reuters - SABMiller , the world's biggest brewer, beat forecasts with a 19 percent rise in annual earnings on Thursday and said it expects to raise beer prices to offset soaring commodity costs, sending its shares higher.

AFP - Net profit at German utilities group RWE fell 48.5 percent in the first quarter on a writedown for its US unit American Water, regulatory measures and the weak pound, figures showed on Thursday.

AP - NEC Corp.'s profit for the fiscal year through March more than doubled from the previous year as the Japanese electronics maker's mobile phone and computer-chip businesses swung to profit.

AP - Sony shares jumped nearly 9 percent in Thursday trading in Tokyo, a day after the Japanese electronics and entertainment company released upbeat earnings that included a record fiscal year profit.

AP - Mizuho, Japan's No. 2 banking group, took a beating from U.S. subprime credit problems, reporting Thursday a 50 percent drop in profit for the fiscal year.

Reuters - Friedman Billings Ramsey said Freddie Mac will not realize meaningful earnings growth until 2012, at the earliest, and that the $5.5 billion capital raise it announced Wednesday will not be enough.

AFP - Europe's main stock markets diverged on Thursday as companies published mixed earnings news, and after share-price gains in Tokyo and overnight on Wall Street, dealers said.