Business Digest

Sharp has another good quarter

Japan's Sharp Corp. booked its second straight profitable quarter in October-December. Sharp said Wednesday it booked a net profit of 9.1 billion yen ($100 million) during its third quarter, after a 65.8 billion yen loss a year earlier. The turnaround came despite a tepid uptick in sales, to 735.3 billion yen from 735.1 billion yen.

Pfizer posts surge in revenue

Pfizer Inc. posted a big jump in revenue that beat Wall Street expectations. The maker of Viagra and Lipitor said Wednesday that its revenue in the fourth quarter came to $16.54 billion, a half-billion above what analysts were expecting. Pfizer says its net income amounts to $767 million, nearly triple what it earned a year earlier because of its $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth. That's equal to earnings per share of 10 cents, or 49 cents after excluding one-time items.

AOL Inc. reports slim profit

AOL Inc. on Wednesday reported a slim profit for the fourth quarter. AOL said it earned $1.4 million, or a penny per share, in the last three months of 2009. That contrasts with a loss of almost $2 billion, or $18.52 per share, a year earlier when it absorbed a hefty accounting charge. It said revenue fell 17 percent to $809.7 million, reflecting smaller contributions from its two main sources, dial-up subscribers and online advertising.

Time Warner sees boost in revenue

Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday that improving results at its movie studio and cable networks boosted fourth-quarter revenue. Time Warner said it earned $627 million, or 53 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $16 billion, or $13.41 per share, a year ago when the company was hurt by heavy write-downs. Excluding one-time items from the most recent results, the company said it earned 55 cents per share. Revenue climbed 2 percent to $7.32 billion.

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