After market close Wednesday, Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO: chart) said its quarterly profit rocketed up 76% as corporations and telecommunications carriers increased their spending on technology. The world’s largest maker of equipment used to link networks and power the Internet reported fiscal 2004 first-quarter net earnings of $1.1 billion, or 15 cents a share, compared with $618 million, or 8 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding charges, the company said it earned $1.2 billion, or 17 cents a share, up from $1.04 billion, or 14 cents a share, a year ago, and 2 cents above the average analysts’ estimate. San Jose, California-based Cisco said sales climbed up 5.3% to $5.10 billion, in the first quarter ended October 25, from $4.85 billion, a year earlier.
Cisco said it expects second-quarter revenue to grow 1% to 3% over the first quarter, and that would be 10% above the prior-year period.

Cisco shares closed Wednesday at $21.80, up 1.02%. The stock soared 5.60% to $23.02 in after-hours trading.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM: chart) said Wednesday its fourth-quarter earnings surged 53% to $291 million, or 35 cents a diluted share, from $190 million, or 23 cents a share, a year ago. The San Diego, California-based company, which sells mobile phone chips and licenses wireless technology, said results were due to higher sales of its products. Revenue was $908.8 million, compared with $873.9 million a year ago.

Company shares shed 73 cents to close Wednesday at $46.59. The stock gained 69 cents to $47.28.

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (HIG: chart) posted Wednesday third-quarter net income of $343 million, or $1.20 per share, a 29% increase from the year-ago profit of $265 million, or $1.15 per share. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.17 a share. The Hartford, Connecticut-based insurer attributed the results to the record earnings from its property-casualty operations.

The stock closed Wednesday down 4 cents, or 0.07%, at $55.01.

UNUMProvident (UNM: chart), the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based insurer, said Wednesday its third-quarter profit dropped 4% to $108.7 million, or 36 cents a share, from $113.4 million, or 47 cents a share, a year ago. The company said its group income protection results were below its expectations. Revenue was up 9% to $2.66 billion from $2.45 billion, a year earlier.

Company shares dipped 1.55% on Wednesday to $16.49. The stock recovered 3 cents to $16.52 in after-market trade.

Bolstered by increase in retail sales, Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL: chart) posted before market open Wednesday a profit of $54 million, or 54 cents a share, for its fiscal 2004 second quarter, up 4.4% from $51.7 million, or 52 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. The New York-based apparel designer and retailer said net revenue rose 10% to $707.8 million from $640.8 million.

The stock added 68 cents to close Wednesday at $30.73.

TXU Corp. (TXU: chart) of Dallas, Texas, said Wednesday its third-quarter earnings surged 90% on the back of improved results at its utility operations in North America and Australia. The power company reported net income of $392 million, or $1.07 a share, compared with $206 million, or 73 cents a share, in the 2002 equivalent. Revenue jumped 7.5% to $3.14 billion.

TXU shares dropped a penny to $22.75 at market close Wednesday.

AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC: chart), the Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania-based drug wholesaler, announced Wednesday net earnings including charges of $119.5 million, or $1.04 a share, for its fourth quarter, up from $95.0 million, or 86 cents a share, a year ago, on higher demand for prescription medicines. Analysts had called for profit of $1.05 per share.

Company shares rose 7.66% on Wednesday to $60.72.

InterActiveCorp (IACI: chart) reported Wednesday a third-quarter net profit of $18.7 million, or 2 cents per share, on revenue of $1.61 billion, reversing a year-ago net loss of $36.6 million, or 8 cents per share, on revenue of $1.18 billion. Excluding charges, the New York-based electronic commerce company said it earned 17 cents per share, which fell short by a penny of Wall Street expectations.

The stock plummeted 7.59% to close Wednesday at $34.19. Company shares edged up 31 cents to $34.50 in after-hours trading.

Calpine Corporation (CPN: chart) of San Jose, California, said Wednesday its fiscal third-quarter net earnings leapt 57% to $237.8 million, or 51 cents a share, from $151.1 million, or 34 cents, in the year-ago quarter, helped by a one-time gain related to debt repurchases. The company, which is one of the largest U.S. power producers, said earnings excluding items were 29 cents a share, above analysts' projections of 23 cents a share.

Company shares rocketed up 7.58% to $5.11 at market close Wednesday. The stock gained 3 cents to $5.14 in after-market trade.

The News Corporation Ltd. (NWS: chart) said Wednesday its first-quarter profit nearly tripled, boosted by higher global sales of video entertainment. The Sydney, Australia-based media conglomerate posted net earnings of $422 million, or 32 cents a share, for the quarter ended September 30, against $162 million, or 12 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenues soared 22% to $4.65 billion from $3.81 billion.

The stock closed Wednesday up 38 cents, or 1.05%, at $36.48. Company shares jumped 3.89% to $37.90 in after-hours trading.