Samsung's quarterly earnings have dropped by a smaller than expected 27% in the electronics giant's fourth quarter, but its forecast-beating profit could not hide the fact that it is losing the battle of the big phones with Apple.

Facebook’s results have beaten profit and revenue forecasts for the seventh quarter in a row as the firm continues to win more mobile advertising revenue as users shift to using the site on smartphones.

The US stock market closed out its best week in nearly two years on a positive note today, helped by strong quarterly earnings from Microsoft and other big US companies.

Samsung, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, is suffering a stunning financial decline in the face of intense competition from Apple and upstart Chinese brands.

BlackBerry has posted a loss of $207m for the second quarter just days after the embattled company launched a new phone.

Stronger-than-expected financial results has pushed Twitter’s stock sharply higher after the short messaging service said its revenue more than doubled in the second quarter.

Investors got some bad news about the American shopper yesterday, driving down US stocks and sending the Dow Jones industrial average to a loss for the week.

After pushing stocks to record levels last week, investors on Wall Street turned cautious yesterday ahead of a batch of corporate earnings reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at an all-time high as the good narrowly outweighed the bad for the stock market.

Microsoft has posted earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations in Satya Nadella’s first quarterly earnings release as chief executive, offering new justification for his focus on cloud computing.

Samsung’s January-March operating income declined 4% over the previous year amid worries about how declining prices of smartphones would affect the world’s largest mobile phone maker.

Stocks closed higher for a fourth straight day on Wall Street yesterday after a report on hiring provided another encouraging sign that the US economy is emerging from its winter slump.

A jump in US car sales and other good news on the economy helped drive the stock market higher yesterday.

Samsung Electronics has reported a record profit for six straight quarters but still disappointed investors who had higher expectations for the world’s largest smartphone maker.

Samsung yesterday reported record quarterly profits but its shares tumbled on doubts its mainstay smartphone business can maintain rapid growth.

The stock market rose yesterday after two lacklustre economic reports convinced traders that the US central bank will continue to boost the economy with its stimulus programme.

Apple’s tight grip on its cash, along with a lack of trail-blazing new products, has been blamed for the steep fall in its stock price, prompting the tech giant to promise shareholders $100bn, writes Peter Svensson.

Facebook's fourth-quarter financial results surpassed Wall Street's expectations but the company's shares dipped lower in extended trading.

eBay finished 2012 with a flourish as bargain-hunting festive shoppers flocked to its internet shopping centre and digital payment service to help lift the company’s fourth-quarter earnings above analyst projections.

Professional networking site LinkedIn said today that it made a profit in the third quarter, reversing a loss a year earlier as revenue grew at a faster pace than analysts expected.

Visa beat Wall Street’s expectations for the latest quarter as it sought out business overseas.

Kingfisher Airlines has grounded flights for at least three days after a violent strike over unpaid wages at the cash-strapped Indian carrier.

Apple is the world’s most valuable company, ever.

Apple has agreed to buy fingerprint reader AuthenTec for approximately US$356 million (€289 million) as the maker of iPhones and iPads looks to strengthen its digital security capabilities.

Facebook’s first earnings report as a public company had solid numbers, but in the end it landed with a thud – much like its rocky initial public offering two months ago.

More consumers are buying the least expensive versions of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, a new phenomenon that is causing the company’s breakneck growth rate to slow.

Microsoft posted its first quarterly loss in its 26 years as a public company as it declared a struggling online ad business a bust and prepared for one of the biggest product updates in its history.

Morgan Stanley saw its revenue fell sharply in the second quarter, dragged down by weak results from its investment banking unit.

EBay more than doubled its second-quarter net income thanks to higher revenue from its PayPal online payments business and its e-commerce websites.

Microsoft is absorbing a $6.2bn (€4.9bn) charge to reflect that one of the biggest deals in its 37-year history fell flat.

Spain’s borrowing costs have broken through the level where its debt is seen as unsustainable, despite the victory by pro-bailout parties in the Greek elections.

Spain’s benchmark borrowing rate has risen to its highest since the country joined the euro, after Fitch credit ratings agency downgraded 18 domestic banks.

Spain will stick to harsh austerity measures until it emerges from its financial crisis, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said today, promising that the country would survive the present economic turmoil.

Air France-KLM posted a first-quarter net loss of €368m today, saying that high fuel costs and a continued drop in cargo had cut into its profits.

Apple uses subsidiaries in Ireland, the Netherlands and other low-tax nations in a strategy that enables the technology giant to cut its global tax bill by billions every year, a report says.

Amazon.com posted first-quarter profits that beat analysts’ estimates and boosted the company’s stock in extended trading.

Starbucks perked up its net income by 18% in the second quarter, as more customers visited its cafes around the world.

Amazon.com posted first-quarter profits today that blew by analysts’ estimates and caused the company’s stock to jump in extended trading.

Apple has trumped sceptics once again by reporting massive iPhone sales.

Yahoo's first-quarter results showed signs of progress that may help boost the credibility of recently hired chief executive Scott Thompson as he tries to turn around the long-suffering internet company.

The yield on Spain’s 10-year government bonds has shot past the 6% mark as fears rise the country may eventually be obliged to seek a financial bailout.

Hewlett-Packard chief executive Meg Whitman pleaded for patience as she described operational challenges and other internal problems that contributed to a decline in earnings at one of the world’s largest technology companies.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp said that net income grew by nearly two-thirds in the final quarter of 2011, despite expenses related to ongoing phone hacking investigations of its UK newspaper unit.

The Walt Disney Co said net income rose 12% in the final quarter of 2011, as revenue inched higher amid company cost cutting.