Stocks, First Quarter Earnings | featured news

A rare earnings miss for IBM tugged the Dow Jones industrial average lower on Friday, while the rest of the market headed toward slight gains after a turbulent week. Quarterly earnings for the country's largest provider of computer services fell short of forecasts for the first time since 2005.Read more on NewsOK.com

Shares of online marketing services provider ValueClick are taking a beating after hours Wednesday following the company's Q1 financial report. ValueClick posted revenue of $152.9 million, up 31% from a year ago, but below the Street consensus at $157.8 million. Guidance had been for $155 million to $160 million.

Since October, estimates for first-quarter earnings growth have tumbled while the S&P 500 has surged. With the earnings season starting next week, the outlook is not as sunny as in previous quarters.

FedEx scared markets in its first quarter earnings report, noting the global economy would slow and demand, particularly from Asia, would cool, putting downward pressure on the stock.

Caterpillar drove the Dow Jones industrial average higher Friday after the company reported a huge gain in first-quarter earnings. The world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment rose 2.5 percent after its earnings increased more than five-fold. The company also raised its sales and profit forecast for the year.

Apple Inc's quarterly results again smashed Wall Street's expectations, fueled by record iPhone and Mac sales, offsetting lower-than-expected sales of its iPad tablet computer.

IBM increased its quarterly dividend by 18% and will look buy back $8 billion worth of stock.