AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) reported third quarter earnings of $3.2 billion, or 54 cents a share, compared with profit of $3.2 billion, or 55 cents a share, in the period a year ago. Analysts had expected it to post earnings of 50 cents a share. Revenue fell 1.6 percent to $30.9 billion, the company said, which was in line with the average analyst estimates of those polled by Thomson Reuters. AT&T, which has exclusive U.S. rights to the iPhone, said it was boosted by 3.2 million activations in the quarter, with nearly 40 percent of those new to AT&T. -Reuters
The United States, which posted a record deficit in the last fiscal year, may lose its Aaa-rating if it does not reduce the gap to manageable levels in the next 3-4 years, Moody’s Investors Service said on Thursday. The U.S. government posted a deficit of $1.417 trillion in the year ended September 30 as the deep recession and a series of bank rescues cut a gaping hole in its public finances. The White House has forecast deficits of more than $1 trillion through fiscal 2011. –Daily Finance

3M (NYSE: MMM) on Thursday reported third-quarter net income of $957 million, or $1.35 a share, compared with $991 million, or $1.41 a share, in the same quarter in 2008. Net sales fell to $6.19 billion from $6.56 billion. Wall Street analysts had been looking for earnings of $1.17 a share on revenue of $5.77 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. The Dow Jones Industrial Average component also raised its full-year profit outlook to a range of $4.50 to $4.55 a share from the prior range of $4.10 to $4.30 a share. -Marketwatch

More Americans than forecast filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, a reminder that the labor marketwill be slow to recover. Initial jobless applications rose by 11,000 to 531,000 in the week ended Oct. 17, from a revised 520,000 the prior week that were the fewest in nine months, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people collecting benefits fell, while those receiving extended benefits increased. –Bloomberg

For the third quarter, eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) reported earnings of $349.7 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with earnings of $492.2 million, or 38 cents a share, for the same period last year. Excluding charges related to stock-options and other items, the company said it would have earned $502 million, or 38 cents a share, in the recent period. Revenue rose more than 5% to $2.24 billion. It was the company’s first year-over-year revenue gain in 12 months. Analysts were expecting eBay to report earnings of 37 cents a share on revenue of $2.14 billion for the third quarter, according to consensus forecasts from Thomson Reuters.

-Jutia Group