Fourth Quarter Earnings | featured news

Barnes & Noble posted a loss for its fiscal fourth quarter on sales that barely inched higher. The loss, while narrower than the one a year earlier, was larger than expected and revenue growth fell short of hopes. Sales of the Nook e-reader fell.

Bed Bath & Beyond reported a 24% climb in fiscal-fourth-quarter profit on improving sales and restrained operating costs.

Best Buy Co reported weaker-than-expected sales for the key holiday quarter, prompting the world's largest electronics chain to close 50 U.S. stores and cut 400 jobs in corporate and support areas.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said fourth- quarter profit fell 30 percent on smaller gains from Warren Buffett’s portfolio of derivatives.

Sales of new homes dipped in January but the final quarter of 2011 was stronger than first estimated.

Target Corp. is reporting a 5.2 percent drop in earnings for the fourth quarter, as the retailer pushed big discounts to get tight-fisted shoppers to buy during the holiday season.

Groupon Inc reported a quarterly net loss Wednesday as the largest daily deal company recorded higher taxes overseas.

The iPhone helped Sprint gain customers in the latest quarter, but also forced the carrier to post its largest loss in three years because of the high cost of the phone and a network upgrade.

Fourth-quarter profit at Wells Fargo rose 20% as the banking giant posted more loan growth and again reduced the amount of money it sets aside to cover potential loan losses.

New claims for unemployment benefits edged down last week, according to a government report on Thursday that pointed to a modest improvement in the labor market at the start of the fourth quarter.