Earnings, Third Quarter Earnings | featured news

Samsung sold more than 97 million mobile phones in the third quarter, besting Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone by more than 74 million units. According to Gartner (NYSE: IT), nearly 428 million mobile phones were sold during the quarter. Approximately 23.5 million of those phones were manufactured by Apple — 97.9 million were made by Samsung.

Inventories at U.S. wholesalers rise at the fastest pace this year in September, adding to evidence that 3Q growth may have been stronger than initially thought.

Groupon’s quarterly loss narrowed as the online-coupon service cut marketing costs but revenue growth continued to slow. Its shares tumbled after hours.

Wendy's says its net loss widened in the third quarter as it paid off debt, but noted that a key sales figure rose. The company, which is in the midst of a turnaround push, says revenue at restaurants open at least 15 months rose 2.7 percent, marking the sixth straight quarter of growth.

Shares in AOL have jumped 14% after the US internet firm reported a sharp rise in advertising revenues. Advertising sales jumped 7% to $340m (£212m), boosting net profit for the third quarter to $20.8m, compared with a loss of $2.6m a year ago.

Washington Post posted a profit as the company recorded fewer restructuring charges, although revenue was flat as its education division continued to struggle.

Shares of security software vendor AVG Technologies are trading sharply higher Thursday on better-than-expected Q3 financial results. For the quarter, AVG posted revenue of $95.3 million, up 34% from a year ago, and ahead of the Street at $85 million.

With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast Monday, a number of major U.S. companies have postponed quarterly earnings as financial markets shut down for the first time since 2001....

Investors are sending Apple's stock below $600 for the first time in three months, after the consumer electronics behemoth reported earnings for its latest quarter that missed expectations and warned that profits in the holiday quarter would fall from last year....

U.S. economic growth picked up in the third quarter as a late burst in consumer spending and a surprise turnaround in government outlays offset the first cutback in business investment in more than a year.