Earnings Deluge Floods Wall Street

(bettertrades) - Earnings season kicked into high gear on Tuesday as some of the world's largest companies delivered quarterly results. Stocks barreled higher in the face of mixed profits and losses from reporting firms.

Caterpillar (CAT) swung to a Q1 loss of $112 million, or $0.19/share, compared with a net gain of $922 million, or $1.45/share, in the year-ago period. Revenues dumped 22% to $9.22 billion. Street estimates called for earnings of 1 cent a share on $8.33 billion in revenues. The heavy equipment maker forecasts a 1.3% contraction in the global economy.

Coca-Cola (KO) said Q1 net fizzled 10% to $1.35 billion, or $0.58/share, from $1.5 billion, or $0.64/share. Revenues dipped 3% to $7.17 billion. Consensus estimates called for earnings of $0.65/share on revenues of $7.5 billion.

DuPont's (DD) Q1 net income fell 59% as the plastics and materials producer saw a sharp decline in global demand.

Merck (MRK) shares tumbled after the pharma giant cut their 2009 sales estimate. Earnings last quarter tumbled to $1.3 billion, or $0.67/share, from $3.3 billion, during the same period one year ago.

Schering-Plough (SGP) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but revenues dropped 6% to $4.39 billion.

Tenet Healthcare (THC) swung to a Q1 profit of $178 million, or $0.37/share, up from a $31 million loss, or $0.06/share, last year. Tenet expects a $55 million loss to $75 million gain for 2009.

United Technologies (UTX) Q1 earnings dropped 24% to $722 million, or $0.78/share, from $1 billion, or $1.03/share. Revenues fell to $12.2 billion, or 12%. Consensus estimates called for net income of $0.78/share. United Tech affirmed its 2009 outlook of $4 to $4.50/share.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK) Q1 net income fell a sharper-than-expected 57% and cut its dividend to 9 cents from 24 cents. Net income dropped to $370 million, or $0.28/share, from $755 million, or $0.65/share. Analysts expected earnings of $0.63/share.

The New York Times Company (NYT) posted a wider-than-expected Q1 loss of $74.5 million, or $0.52/share, including an $0.11/share loss due to severance costs and a $0.07/share loss on leases at City & Suburban. The Grey Lady's loss during the same period last year was $335,000. Q1 revenues plunged 19% to $609 million.

BlackRock (BLK) reported a 65% decline in profits to $84 million, or $0.62/share, down from $241 million, or $1.77/share, in the year-ago timeframe. Consensus estimates were for earnings of $0.81/share.