third-quarter earnings

Nokia phones in profit

Nokia's earnings returned to the black in the third quarter thanks to smartphone sales, but it also announced 1,800 layoffs.

The Finnish mobile phone maker said today that it took home a profit of 529 million euros ($741 million) in the third quarter compared with a loss of 559 million euros in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose almost 5 percent to 10.3 billion euros from 9.8 billion euros a year back earlier.

Surpassing analyst expectations, the third-quarter results were boosted by higher selling prices on Nokia smartphones. For the quarter, the company's Devices and Services … Read more

Adobe sees big revenue jump

Adobe's fiscal third-quarter earnings were solid, but the outlook for the fourth quarter was a bit light relative to expectations.

The company today reported earnings of $230.1 million, or 44 cents a share, on revenue of $990.3 million, up 42 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 54 cents a share.

Wall Street was looking for earnings of 49 cents a share on revenue of $985 million.

Read more of "Adobe's third quarter solid, but outlook is light" at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

Amazon meets expectations, but offers dim holiday forecast

This post was updated at 2:20 p.m. PDT to include Amazon's announcement that it won't launch an upgraded Kindle until next year.

Amazon's third-quarter revenue was in line with analyst expectations, but e-commerce doesn't appear to be immune to the economic slump pounding offline and online retailers alike.

For the quarter ended September 30, Amazon reported $4.26 billion in revenues, up 31 percent compared with $3.26 billion in third quarter of 2007. The numbers came in on the low side of Amazon's forecasts from last summer. The company said revenue would … Read more

Google shares rise post-earnings and analysts applause

Google shares jumped nearly 9 percent in intraday trading Friday, as analysts chimed in with favorable reports following the company's strong third quarter performance.

Google climbed as high as $384 a share during the day, after reporting a stronger than expected third quarter on Thursday after the markets close. Google's rally marks its second consecutive day of gains, in which its shares have risen as much as 11.7 percent.

Analysts overwhelmingly gave Google a thumbs up in its ability to control costs in the quarter, aiding the company's ability to exceed analysts earnings estimates.

UBS Securities … Read more

Overseas, IBM growth consistently modest

IBM's third-quarter revenues coming out of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are tracking on a similar growth pattern as the first half of the year, the company announced on Monday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Big Blue, which is meeting with European investors, said revenue growth during the first two months of the third quarter is "consistent" with the company's EMEA performance during the first six months of the year.

For IBM, that could bode well for its third quarter, given that the EMEA region accounts for roughly a third of its overall … Read more