COMPANIES

Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), the world's largest social networking platform, is expected to post a profit in its first quarter as a publicly traded company following revenue growth in the April-through-June period.

U.S. companies have been finding it much easier to deliver earnings beats, or profits that are higher than expected, as analysts on Wall Street continue to trim their forecasts for earnings growth. However, they might have also come to realize that beating earnings expectations alone is not enough to help their stock prices.

Starbucks Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX), the world's largest coffee chain, is expected to report higher second-quarter profit as growth in its ground coffee division offsets the cost of buying a bakery company.

Under Armour (NYSE: UA) shares jumped more than 12 percent on Tuesday trading after reporting better than expected second quarter earnings.

On Monday, Apple released its newest commercial for the iPhone 4S -- the first smartphone to feature Apple's AI assistant -- with Martin Scorcese as the company's latest spokesman. If Apple plans to do more commericals with these Hollywood types, we've got a few great ideas on who should be picked next, and why.

Social games developer and creators of CastleVille Zynga is preparing to report second-quarter earnings, even though the company has seen massive dips in its user-base.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), the maker of Lay's potato chips, Quaker oatmeal and its namesake Pepsi-Cola, is projected to report lower second-quarter profit as the food and beverage giant struggles to offset rising ingredient costs and marketing expenses with price increases.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, is expected to report strong second-quarter profit as resurgent sales of construction machinery in the U.S. and ongoing global demand for mining equipment offset weakening sales in Europe, China and Brazil. The impact of acquisitions will also play a part.

Wipro Ltd, India's third largest IT services exporter, Tuesday reported a jump of 6.7 percent sequentially in its first quarter profits for the financial year 2012-13, aided by the strong demand for outsourcing services and the week Indian rupee.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) profits are expected to fall precipitously for the second quarter of 2012 compared to the same time last year, largely due to continued losses abroad, particularly in Europe.

It's officially the last week of July, which means that Apple has seven days to release its brand-new operating system for Mac, also known as OS X Mountain Lion. Users that upgrade to Mac OS X Mountain Lion will discover scores of useful features -- more than 200 of them, according to Apple. Here's a guide to the best and most important features in Mountain Lion.

Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) is expected to report second quarter 2012 earnings sharply lower than the previous year as the company waits for revenue from the recently launched Model S and from a new partnership with Mercedes-Benz to have a positive impact later in the year.

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) announced Monday it was expanding its grocery store strategy to an additional 30 outlets, including ones in Nashville, Tenn., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Jacksonville, Fla.

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD), the world's largest restaurant chain, reported a 4.5 percent drop in second-quarter profit hurt by a stronger dollar and weaker global demand.

Internet users and investors were heartened last week when Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), elected Marissa Mayer, 37, as its third CEO in less than a year. A hedge fund gets part of the credit but not all hedge funds score as well in the tech sector: how about Eastman Kodak (Pink: EKDKQ)?

Maruti Suzuki(MRTI.NS) has no idea when the Manesar factory hit by a deadly riot this week will reopen, the carmaker's chairman acknowledged on Saturday, saying it was impossible to import extra vehicles or shift lost production to another plant.

In a piece of software connecting the Linux kernel to Microsoft's HyperV program, a small piece of hexadecimal code reading 0xB16B00B5 was found. Translated from geekspeak, the code reads, BIG BOOBS.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) looks to be gearing up for something big. The tech company is pushing for more overtime hours by certain staffers beginning Wednesday, meaning that a big release will likely be on the way soon. Many agree the release probably will be the latest iteration of the Macintosh OS X operating system.

Beck, the eclectic and award-winning musician of Odelay and Sea Change fame, is contributing three new songs to the coming video game Sound Shapes.

Due to a dispute over pensions, hundreds of train drivers are planning to go on strike in central England during the Olympic Games, according to their trade union. The move could seriously disrupt the atmosphere of the games, leaving London disconnected from cities like Sheffield and Nottingham.

The Tokyo-based e-commerce giant Rakuten introduced its Kobo Touch e-reader in Japan on Thursday, and early reports suggest that the device is already a hit.

The price of platinum, the precious metal used to make anti-pollution equipment for vehicles, is in a slump due to the global economic downturn, but it's especially bad in Europe where platinum demand is greatest. Nevertheless, analysts are bullish, believing the price will rise in the latter half of the year and into the next.

Next week's barrage of earnings releases offers further guidance on the health of U.S. companies.

Two months after the trading fiasco in the initial public offering of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, tech IPOs are soaring again. Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq: PANW) and Kayak Software (Nasdaq: KYAK) shares soared in their IPOs.

Investors seem to be disregarding the parade better-than-expected profit figures from major financial institutions this earnings season, instead using top-of-the-line revenue and return on equity numbers to guide their investment decisions.

The global slowdown may trim net income for Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX), the No. 1 provider of business printers and services. CEO Ursula Burns shaved her full-year forecast to a range between $1.07 and $1.12 a share from the previous $1.18.

General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), the largest U.S. conglomerate, said Friday its second-quarter continuing earnings rose 7 percent as strong U.S. demand for energy related equipment offset falling European demand and the effect of a strong dollar.

The golden age of being a banker is so far in the past. After a brutal year of massive layoffs in the global financial industry last year, the axe is starting to fall again.

The relationship between Microsoft's Turn 10 studios and Meguiar's car care has proven to be a beneficial symbiosis for seemingly strange bedfellows in radically different industries.