News

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Among the shares expected to see active trade in Thursday's session are those of Starbucks Corp., CBS Corp., NVIDIA Corp., and NASDAQ OMX Group.

Starbucks is projected to post earnings of 21 cents a share in the fourth quarter, according to a consensus survey by FactSet Research

CBS is forecast to report third-quarter earnings of 22 cents a share.

Nvidia Corp. is expected to report earnings of 10 cents a share in the third quarter.

Nasdaq OMX Group is estimated to post third-quarter earnings of 42 cents a share.

Cigna Corp. is likely to report third-quarter earnings of $1.02 a share.

CVS Caremark Corp. is forecast to post earnings of 64 cents a share in the third quarter.

Cardinal Health is projected to report earnings of 43 cents a share in the first quarter.

Sara Lee Corp. is expected to post earnings of 19 cents a share in the first quarter.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group is forecast to report earnings of 49 cents a share in the third quarter.

Spectra Energy is likely to post earnings of 27 cents a share in the third quarter.

EOG Resources is forecast to post earnings of 61 cents a share in the third quarter.

Sunoco is projected to report a third-quarter loss of 9 cents a share.

MGM Mirage Inc. is expected to report a third-quarter loss of 7 cents a share.

MetroPCS Communications is likely to report third-quarter earnings of 10 cents a share.

Verisign Inc. is predicted to post earnings of 33 cents a share in the third quarter.

Teradata Corp. is forecast to report earnings of 30 cents a share in the third quarter.

Time Warner Cable Inc. is seen to report earnings of 75 cents a share in the third quarter.

DIRECTV Group Inc. is expected to post earnings of 39 cents a share in the third quarter.

E.W. Scripps Co. is projected to post earnings of a penny a share in the third quarter.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. is likely to report a loss of 2 cents a share in the third quarter.

Activision Blizzard Inc. is forecast to post third-quarter earnings of 5 cents a share.

Sotheby's Holdings Inc. reporting a loss of 31 cents a share in the third quarter.

TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. is scheduled to report second-quarter results, while BNP Paribas will release third-quarter earnings. Deutsche Telekom is also slated to announce third-quarter results.

After Wednesday's closing bell, News Corp. said it earned $571 million, or 22 cents a share, in the first quarter compared with a profit of $515 million, or 20 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago, as profit rose sharply on the international box office proceeds from "Ice Age: Dawn Of the Dinosaurs." Revenue fell to $7.2 billion from $7.51 billion. News Corp. owns MarketWatch, the publisher of this report. Read about News Corp.'s quarterly earnings

Watch list

Allstate Corp. said third-quarter net income came in at $221 million, or 41 cents a share, versus a net loss of $923 million, or $1.70 a share, a year earlier. Operating profit, which excludes net realized investment gains and losses, was $538 million, or 99 cents a share, in the latest period. See details on Allstate's earnings

AMR Corp.'s American Airlines reported its traffic in October fell 2.6% to 10.24 billion revenue passenger miles from 10.51 billion revenue passenger miles in October 2008. A revenue passenger mile is equal to one passenger flown one mile. American's total capacity last month declined 7.3% to 12.33 billion available seat miles from 13.3 billion a year earlier. Load factor, or the percentage of available seats filled with passengers, rose 4 percentage points to 83.1%.

Cisco Systems Inc. reported a fiscal first quarter profit of $1.8 billion, or 30 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.2 billion, or 37 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $9 billion, down from $10.3 billion for the same quarter last year. Adjusted income was 36 cents a share. Read more about Cisco's lower profit

Conseco Inc. its third-quarter net income came in at $15.4 million, or 8 cents a share, versus a net loss of $183.3 million, or 99 cents a share, a year earlier. Operating income, which excludes net realized investment gains and losses and other items, was $54.3 million, or 29 cents a share, in the latest period, Conseco reported. The insurer's main Bankers Life business generated operating earnings of $85.4 million in the third quarter of 2009, up 26% from a year earlier.

Murphy Oil Corp. reported its third-quarter net income fell to $188.9 million, or 98 cents a share, from $584.4 million, or $3.04 a share, a year ago. Revenue fell to $5.18 billion from $8.17 billion.

NetSuite Inc. said its third-quarter loss widened to $8 million, or 13 cents a share, from $6.2 million, or 10 cents a share in the same period last year. The provider of business software said revenue rose to $41.7 million from $40.4 million. Excluding special items, Netsuite said earnings for the quarter were 1 cent a share. See details on NetSuite's quarterly loss

Prudential Financial Inc. said its third-quarter net income came in at $1.1 billion, or $2.35 a common share, compared with a net loss of $118 million, or 25 cents a common share, a year earlier. Adjusted operating income, which excludes net realized investment gains and losses, was $733 million, or $1.59 a common share, in the latest period. Prudential forecast full-year operating profit of $5.40 to $5.60 per common share. Read about Prudential's earnings

Qualcomm Inc. reported a fourth-quarter net income of $803 million, or 48 cents a share, compared to net income of $878 million, or 52 cents a share, for the same period the previous year. On a pro-forma basis, the company said its earnings would have been $811 million, or 48 cents a share, for the recent period. Revenue fell 19% to $2.69 billion. See full story on Qualcomm earnings

Sanmina-SCI Corp. said its fiscal fourth-quarter loss narrowed to $32.3 million, or 41 cents a share, from $485.2 million, or $5.48 a share, in the year ago period. Excluding one-time items, the company reported it broke even for the quarter on a per-share basis. Revenue fell to $1.35 billion from $1.7 billion a year ago. For the fiscal first quarter, Sanmina-SCI sees adjusted earnings of 10 cents to 15 cents a share on revenue of $1.35 billion to $1.45 billion.

THQ Inc. reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $5.6 million, or 8 cents a share, on revenue of $101.3 million, compared with a loss of $115.3 million, or $1.73 a share, on $151.6 million in sales in the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time items, the video game publisher would have lost $25.2 million, or 37 cents a share. For its fiscal third-quarter, THQ estimates its sales will be between 5% and 10% lower than the $357.3 million it reported a year ago.

Whole Foods Market Inc. reported its fiscal fourth-quarter net income jumped to $28.7 million, or 20 cents a share, up from $1.5 million, or 1 cent a share, a year ago. Sales rose 2.3% to $1.83 billion. Identical store sales -- a key barometer of grocer health -- fell 2.3% compared to a decline of 0.5% in the same period last year. While same-store sales have fallen in recent quarters the magnitude is easing. "We believe our sales have stabilized and officially turned the corner," CEO John Mackey said in a statement. See details on Whole Foods' quarterly results.