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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Better-than-expected quarterly results and upbeat comments drew investors to push shares of Cisco Systems Inc. higher Wednesday evening, but shares of Whole Foods Inc. slid after the upscale grocer's yearly earnings view fell short of expectations.

Investors also kept track of THQ Inc. in late trades, lifting them after the video-game publisher's adjusted loss was smaller than anticipated.

Cisco shares were the most heavily traded of the late session, rising 2.8% to $23.29, but off session highs. The company said fiscal first-quarter adjusted income was 36 cents a share, above the forecast of 31 cents a share expected by analysts polled by FactSet Research.

Revenue at the San Jose, Calif.-based company fell to $9 billion from $10.3 billion in the year-ago period. Sales came in higher than the estimate of $8.75 billion. Net earnings were $1.8 billion, or 30 cents a share, compared with $2.2 billion, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier.

Chief Executive John Chambers said the results coming in better than Wall Street's target "continued to reflect strong sequential growth trends."

Chambers also said he believes economic recovery is taking hold and "gaining momentum." Read more about Cisco's results.

Cisco also said it will buy back up to $10 billion in common stock. The company's shares are up about 43% from the end of 2008.

Stock in Whole Foods dropped 8% to $29.50 following the grocer's forecast for fiscal 2010 earnings of $1.05 to $1.10 a share, a range that's below the current estimate of $1.11 a share.

The company also said fiscal fourth-quarter net income climbed to $28.7 million, or 20 cents a share, from $1.5 million, or 1 cent a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose 2.3% to $1.83 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 18 cents a share on sales of $1.84 billion.

Identical store sales -- a key barometer of grocer health -- fell 2.3% compared with a decline of 0.5% in the same period last year. Whole Foods also said the pace of falling same-store sales is easing.

"We believe our sales have stabilized and officially turned the corner," said Chief Executive John Mackey in a statement.

Whole Foods shares have more than doubled since the start of the year.

THQ shares jumped 11% to $5.55 in low volume. Excluding one-time items, the company said it would have lost $25.2 million, or 37 cents a share, for its fiscal second quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of 48 cents a share.

Sales for the most recent period were $101.3 million, down from $151.6 million in the year-ago period. Wall Street was looking for sales of $92.2 million. The company also estimates that fiscal third-quarter sales will be between 5% and 10% lower than the $357.3 million it reported a year ago.

Sanmina-SCI Corp. shares also stood out despite their low volume of trade. The shares surged 17% to $7.74 with the contract electronics manufacturer posting adjusted per-share earnings of breakeven, better than the projected loss of 9 cents a share for its fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue fell to $1.35 billion from $1.7 billion. Analysts were looking for $1.26 billion in revenue for the most recent period.

The net loss was $32.3 million, or 41 cents share, compared with its loss of $485.2 million, or $5.48 a share, last year. Sanmina also forecast fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of 10 cents to 15 cents a share on revenue of $1.35 billion to $1.45 billion. Wall Street currently expects a loss of 1 cent a share on $1.32 billion in sales.