Sears earnings slump

Department store retailer Sears, Roebuck and Co. reported dismal earnings for the second quarter on Thursday. The company, which operates a store in Lawrence, reported profits of 24 cents per share, down from a $1.04 per share during the same period a year ago. Sears blamed the poor results on poor spring clothing sales.

Above, Glenda Hogue, of Arnold, Mo., looks over clearance items Thursday at a Sears store in St. Louis.

Technology

Microsoft profits rise, fall short of estimates

Microsoft Corp.’s earnings rose nearly 82 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter, helped slightly by a tax benefit, and the software maker raised revenue expectations slightly for the coming fiscal year. But the latest quarter’s results were short of analysts’ expectations and the stock fell.

Earnings for the three months ended June 30 were $2.69 billion, or 25 cents per share, up from $1.48 billion or 14 cents per share in the same period a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been expecting quarterly earnings of 29 cents per share.

Restaurants

McDonald’s sales up

Menu changes, later hours and accepting payment by credit and debit cards helped lift McDonald’s Corp. to higher sales and a 25 percent jump in second-quarter profits.

The company reported earnings of 47 cents per share, up from 37 cents per share a year earlier. The report met Wall Street’s expectations.

Beverages

Coca-Cola reports fizzle in international markets

The Coca-Cola Co. reported a 16 percent jump in second-quarter profit on solid revenue, but said it was experiencing challenges in several international markets.

The company earned 65 cents per share in the third quarter, up from 55 cents a year earlier. The results beat estimates by a penny. But the company warned investors of sales struggles in Germany, Mexico and the Philippines.

Telecommunications

Long-distance service no longer focus of AT&T

AT&T Corp., the nation’s largest long-distance company, will stop seeking new customers for its traditional long-distance service.

The company will continue to serve its existing residential customers but will no longer pour roughly $1 billion a year into winning new ones, AT&T reported Thursday. It also announced sharply lower profits for the second quarter.

Instead, AT&T will bet its future on providing telecom and data services to business, currently 75 percent of its revenue, and selling residential customers new technologies.