Stocks and markets in the News | After Hours Trading

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch 

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Shares of Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. rose late Wednesday, with quarterly adjusted earnings from the software marker and the search firm each coming in above expectations, while Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. shares dropped more than 5% following disappointing sales figures. 

Google GOOG +2.12%  shares gained 2.4% to $607.04 as the company’s adjusted earnings were $10.12 a share, above the $10.04 consensus estimate produced by a Thomson Reuters poll of analysts. Net revenue - excluding the contribution of Motorola Mobility - was $8.36 billion. Wall Street expected core revenue of $8.41 billion. 

Net income at Google was $2.79 billion, or $8.42 a share, compared with $2.51 billion, or $7.68 a share, in the year-ago period. Read full story about Google. 

Reuters

Stock in Microsoft MSFT +0.71%  traded 2.5% higher at $31.42. Fiscal fourth-quarter earnings at Microsoft excluding charges related to a writedown in its online services business and deferred revenue for Windows operating system were 73 cents a share. Revenue was $18.6 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $18.15 billion. 

On a net basis, Microsoft swung to a loss of $492 million, or 6 cents a share. It made $5.9 billion, or 69 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Read more about Microsoft’s loss. 

 

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. CMG -11.22%  fell 6.7% to $377 after the restaurant chain operator said second-quarter revenue was $690.9 million, which was below Wall Street’s forecast of $704.8 million. Sales a year ago were $571.6 million. Same-restaurant sales grew 8% compared with the 10% growth target set by analysts. 

Rising corn prices and your grocery bill Corn prices are nearing the record highs of last summer as the U.S. Midwest suffers its worst drought since 1956. Shoppers should expect higher grocery bills. 

Chipotle’s profit jumped 61% to $81.7 million, or $2.56 a share, up from $50.7 million, or $1.59 a share, a year ago. Earnings were well above the consensus estimate of $2.30 a share, according to a FactSet analyst survey. 

During the day session, U.S. extended gains into a third session, helped by the latest round of financial results, including from International Business Machines and eBay Inc. See more in Market Snapshot. 

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.27%  rose 35 points, or 0.3%, to 12,943.66 and the S&P 500 Index SPX +0.27%  gained 0.3% at 1,376.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP +0.79%  outperformed, rising 0.8% to 2,965.90. 

Carla Mozee is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in Los Angeles.