National earnings

April 24, 2008 at 1:39AM

Apple Inc. reported a 36 percent jump in second-quarter profit after winning customers for Macintosh personal computers.

Net income rose to $1.05 billion, or $1.16 a share, from $770 million, or 87 cents, a year earlier, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said Wednesday. Sales climbed 43 percent to $7.51 billion. Analysts had anticipated profit of $1.06 and revenue of $6.96 billion.

Amazon.com Inc. The Web retailer said Wednesday that its first-quarter profit rose 29 percent, helped by solid sales in the United States and abroad.

Quarterly earnings climbed to $143 million, or 34 cents per share, from $111 million, or 26 cents per share, in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had forecast a profit of 32 cents per share.

Revenue increased 37 percent to $4.14 billion from $3.02 billion in the year-ago quarter.

UPS Inc. The world's largest shipping carrier said Wednesday its profit rose 7.5 percent in the first quarter.

The Atlanta-based company said it earned $906 million, or 87 cents a share, in the January-March quarter, compared to a profit of $843 million, or 78 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Boeing Co. The world's second-biggest commercial airplane manufacturer reported a better-than-expected 38 percent jump in its first-quarter earnings, as it improved efficiency and recorded more orders for its aircraft.

The Chicago-based aerospace company said it earned $1.2 billion, or $1.62 per share, for the quarter ending March 31. That compares with $877 million, or $1.13 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4 percent to $16 billion from $15.37 billion a year ago.

McClatchy Co. The publisher reported a first-quarter loss of $849,000, or 1 cent a share, versus profit of $9.03 million, or 11 cents, a year earlier. Sales declined 14 percent to $488.3 million.

Revenue from classified ads dropped 26 percent, said Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy, which publishes 31 daily newspapers and formerly owned the Star Tribune.

Standard & Poor's lowered McClatchy's debt rating by one level to BB-.

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