Microsoft Q4 earning

Microsoft's net income fell to $3.05 billion, or 34 cents a share, from $4.3 billion, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 17% to $13.1 billion, below the Thomson Reuters estimate of $14.37 billion. Full year net at $14.6bn.

Ford Motor Co. swings to 2Q profit

Ford Motor said it had second-quarter net income of $2.3 billion, or 69 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $8.7 billion, or $3.89 per share, a year ago. That was the company’s worst-ever quarterly result.Ford’s second-quarter revenue declined 40 percent, to $27.2 billion from $41.1 billion a year earlier.Ford’s North American operations had a pre-tax loss of $851 million, compared with a loss of $1.3 billion a year ago. The loss, the company said, was cut primarily by structural spending cuts and improved market share. The unit’s second-quarter revenue was $10.8 billion, compared with $14.2 billion a year earlier.

Hyundai posts record Q2 profit

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its second quarter net profit rose 48% to 812 billion won ($650 million) from 547 billion won a year earlier, boosted by a weaker local currency and domestic tax incentives for auto purchases. The result was above the average forecast of 405.8 billion in a survey by Dow Jones Newswires, which added that the quarterly profit was the highest ever for the South Korean auto maker. Sales for the three months ended June 30 totaled 8.08 trillion won, down from 9.1 trillion won in the year earlier period, but domestic sales were up 15% on year.

Samsung Electronics Posts Unexpected Profit Increase

Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest memory-chip maker, Friday reported a better-than-expected 5.2% rise in second-quarter net profit thanks to strong shipments of memory chips, flat-screen panels and televisions. For the three months ended June 30, Samsung posted a net profit of KRW2.25 trillion, up from KRW2.14 trillion a year earlier. Sales rose 11.7% to KRW32.51 trillion from KRW29.1 trillion a year earlier, while operating profit rose to KRW2.52 trillion from KRW2.4 trillion a year earlier.

Oracle profit down by 7.4%

Oracle Corp., the world’s second- largest software maker, reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates after customers renewed contracts for product updates and support.

Net income fell to $1.89 billion, or 38 cents a share, last quarter, from $2.04 billion, or 39 cents. Including revenue from acquired companies, sales dropped to $6.88 billion, compared with the $6.47 billion estimate of analysts.

Shares were up 2.8% to $20.44 in recent after-hours trading. Oracle's stock has been rebounding since hitting a three-year low in March.

Japan May Trade Surplus

Japan's trade surplus for May fell 12.1% from the previous year to 299.8 billion yen ($3.14 billion), the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday. The nation's exports fell 40.9% on year, as the trade surplus with the U.S., its biggest export market, shrank 52.9% and its surplus with Europe tumbled 75.4%. Imports slid 42.4 percent from a year earlier, and the trade surplus narrowed 12.1 percent to 299.8 billion yen ($3.1 billion), the Finance Ministry said.